


Dokis and Dragons

by Elwone



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Characters Play Dungeons & Dragons, Friendship/Love, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elwone/pseuds/Elwone
Summary: Monika is struggling to bring her literature club together. Sayori's attempt at bringing in her childhood friend had failed, and the club has been unable to bring in any new members. Desperate for something to bring these strangers together in an interactive activity has brought Monika to an entirely new world of literature. She hopes through the oral storytelling elements of Dungeons and Dragons, she might be able to draw in these girls, and maybe make some meaningful friendships in the end. But this game isn't just for fun. This game will bring out the worst and the best of the girls, and maybe bring to light some problems they didn't even know they had. It's a world of adventure and discovery both in and out of the game. Can Monika bring this motley crew together? Or will her literature club be a critical fail?
Comments: 23
Kudos: 36





	1. A Long Journey Ahead

Monika was in dismay. She leaned against the desk of her homeroom teacher and let out a weak sigh that just barely escaped her lips. Her frustration hung over her like a dark cloud. Past the storm gathering overhead, she looked out over the sea of empty desks to scout out the individual faces of each of her club members.

Yuri was closest to her, sitting in the second row. A tall, wiry girl with flowing locks that cascaded to her waist like a purple wave. She had a quiet grace about her, but her inability to break out of her shell had severely limited the interactions she was able to have with the other members of her club. 

She was currently nose-deep in one of her occult horror novels. She had explained her love for the novels to the rest of the girls, including Monika, but her gushing had quickly been shot down by both Natsuki’s look of disgust and Sayori’s trademark head tilt of confusion. Monika had done her best to encourage and relate to her, but it simply wasn’t happening. Like a snail that had extended herself only to be burned by the bitter touch of salt, Yuri was back in her shell. With seemingly no desire to extend that burned hand again. 

Monika shifted her gaze to the very back of the classroom. Just by the door, in the center of the row Sayori quietly hummed to herself, cheerful as could be. Sayori was a ball of sunshine given a glimmering grin. That smile was what drew the eye every time Monika looked at her. Even her flamboyant red bow on top of her head was not enough to draw away from that dazzling smile. If she was being honest, Monika had actually felt a tiny nibble of jealousy when she first saw Sayori. First for her bow--which Monika had dubbed her signature accessory--secondly for the way her smile seemed so warm and inviting. Monika knew how to smile, but no matter how kind was behind it, her smiles always seemed to be iced over with a layer of polite formality. 

Monika encouraged her to read during their club meetings, but more often than not that had just led to Sayori propping up a book and playing some cute game on her phone with cats and...toast? She wasn’t entirely sure what she had seen when she peeked over Sayori’s shoulder, but she seemed to be enraptured in it. Unfortunately it wasn’t even a multiplayer game, so there was no chance of the rest of the club joining in. 

And curled up in the corner was the tiniest member of the group: Natsuki. Easily mistakable for a freshman, Natsuki just barely scratched at the surface of being five feet tall. Her petite frame paired with that diminutive height almost made her look like a doll. Her bright pink hair and complex hairstyle, which seemed to be something more akin to three hairstyles fused into one, didn’t help her with that. Natsuki really looked like she’d be the last doll on the shelf that you’d see nervous parents fighting to take home to their pouty children on Christmas Eve.

That toy was in her own little world, with a grin that had been stuck on her face so long Monika was beginning to suspect maybe she really was a doll. She finally moved when she shut the manga volume she finished reading and slid it back into its appropriate place. That boxset had been read over and over again for weeks now. From the looks of it, Natsuki was about halfway through another reading, and showing no signs of slowing down. When she’d tried to share her own hobbies, it was Yuri’s turn to shoot her down with a stifled laugh at Natsuki’s insistence that manga was true literature. Monika had held her tongue, for fear of discouraging Natsuki, but Sayori only took a baseball bat to Natsuki’s fragile ego by telling her how much she had loved that series...when she was 8 years old. Much like Yuri, she had retracted herself. 

Monika threw her head back and began counting the ceiling tiles. It had been nearly two months since the creation of the literature club. And while she hated to say it...she was disappointed. Things had been rocky from the start. From personal disputes to having difficulty recruiting new members, the club had been stagnating for a few weeks now. Monika could still recall how devastated Sayori had been when her childhood friend had denied her invitation to join the club. 

Monika curled her fist. The memory put a sour taste in her mouth. From what Sayori had relayed to her, her friend had told her to her face that he was planning on checking the club out, and Sayori was beaming about it the entire day. Yuri all but made flash cards to prepare for new conversations, and Natsuki had even made cupcakes for the bastard. Monika herself had even practiced her official welcome speech all morning. But when the time came...they waited. And waited. But no one came. Watching Sayori’s radiant smile slowly dim every time she looked at the clock filled Monika with a protective rage she didn’t know she had. At the end of the day, he had bailed on Sayori, and she hadn’t heard back from him since.

All Monika could think was how much she wanted to give Sayori a big hug and comfort her, but they simply weren’t there yet. She was president and Sayori was vice president of the club, but beyond that they were practically strangers. All of them were just strangers gathering in a quiet room because none of them really had anything better to do.

But Monika wanted more than that. She wanted this club to be the place that everybody loved, the place that every member looked forward to and did their best to improve. She didn’t want to place any blame on anybody, but nobody really seemed to care about the club all that much. The most participation she had been able to do was basically just assign them homework. 

“Like a teacher,” Monika grimaced. Yuri cut her eyes up for a moment at Monika’s sudden disturbance, but it wasn’t long before she returned them to the musty pages of her book. Every night she encouraged the girls to write a poem and share it the next day. It was an idea she had had that would hopefully bring out some of those hidden emotions each girl held, but it hadn’t really moved anything along. If anything, it had only split the group further by putting everybody into different categories. Yuri’s eloquent writing style and immense vocabulary had left Natsuki with birds circling her head, Natsuki’s cute, snappy-lined poems had produced the opposite effect of what she had been going for, and Sayori’s had been cobbled together at the last minute, making very little sense in the end. 

Monika’s own poems had felt like a kind of a boast. Like she had organized the whole activity just to show off. The idea of how narcissistic she must have looked that first day made her stomach turn, but she pushed on with the poem ideas nonetheless...until now. She had been brainstorming for weeks. They were a literature club, but having group readings was out of the question and the poems weren’t cutting it, but Monika had discovered something of a radical idea. After a quick Google search followed by several hours down a Youtube rabbit hole, Monika felt she might have finally found what she needed to bring this group together. Now all she needed was the confidence to do it. 

Confidence. Right. That’s all it took. Which is why Monika was still standing around idling like she was a budget NPC in a cheap video game. She couldn’t understand why it was so hard for her. It sounded silly, but she could spin it! She was on the debate team for God’s sake! Monika took one last deep breath, then absolutely shattered the silence with her melodic voice.  
“Okay, everyone! Listen up! Your club president has an announcement.” Yuri finally lifted her head, Sayori all but dropped her phone, and Natsuki rose from the ground, still barely visible behind the desks.  
“What’s up, Monika?” Natsuki’s high-pitched voice piped up from the back.  
“We already did poems, didn’t we?” Yuri looked around for confirmation. That sent a pang through her heart. Was that really all they had done? No, she needed to keep it together. She needed to keep rolling.  
“Yes, but I have a new idea.”  
“Ooh! Is it that thing I suggested?” Sayori stood from her desk and rushed to the front of the room.  
“No, Sayori, I told you movies aren’t literature. Ah, no. Even if they do have written scripts.” Sayori deflated, giving her the puppy dog eyes the entire time. “What would you guys say to...well, uh...we’ll call it oral storytelling.” Monika was afraid to drop the name before explaining properly.  
“What do you mean? Like story time? What are we in kindergarten?” Natsuki, who had meandered her way up to the front, inquired with a scowl on her face.  
“No, no, nothing like that! Uh...so the premise is that we’ll all be telling a story, uh, through verbal means. So it’s going to be like literature, but we’re not gonna write any of it down, if that makes sense.” Monika was rambling.  
“Oh, like Beowulf?” Yuri’s slow, sultry voice was heard once more.  
“Uh, yeah! It’s a lot like that! Only you guys are going to be the characters in the story!”  
“Monika, we’re not putting on a play, are we?” Natsuki questioned.  
“Well, no, not exactly. We’re not really performing, we’re--ah, screw it. Okay, guys, do you wanna play Dungeons & Dragons?” And Monika might as well have grown a third arm right in front of them.  
“Do we what?” Natsuki sputtered.  
“What’s that?” Sayori’s head was an oscillating fan as she searched for answers.  
“Monika, isn’t that a game? We’re not really a gaming club,” Yuri reminded her.  
“I know, I know! But hear me out. Do some research on it. It’s like telling a story, like Beowulf, like you said! It’s collaborative storytelling...with tabletop gaming elements.”  
After some silence, Sayori finally spoke up.  
“So it’s a game? Like a video game?”  
“No, ugh...it’s not just a game! It’s--oh! It’s like an interactive novel! You’ve seen those right?” That caught some nods and affirmations. “Yes! Exactly like that, but way more detailed! Think of a whole world that changes with your every action. It’s an incredible way to tell a story, don’t you think?” Monika could feel the hesitation. Her stomach was a sinking stone, but she pushed on nonetheless. “Okay, everyone. Club homework for the night is to research the game Dungeons & Dragons. Does everybody get that? Okay, good. When we meet tomorrow, I want to get your answers. If you like it, then we’ll get to work, if not...then...I guess we’ll do something else.” Monika cut her eyes to the floor, feeling a sort of dread at the idea of rejection. 

The other girls caught this, Sayori especially.  
“I’m sure it’s awesome! I don’t really know what it is, but it sounds cool! I mean I like Dragons!”  
“And Yuri likes dungeons, I bet,” Natsuki jabbed. Yuri sputtered like a pickup truck from the first World War.  
“W-What does that mean exactly?”  
“It means whatever you want it to mean, I dunno.” Natsuki shrugged and turned her shoulder to gather her things.  
“Thanks, everyone.” Monika perked up a bit. “I’ll see you all tomorrow, okay?” 

Monika’s walk home was full of both anxiety and excitement. The truth was: ever since she discovered the game she had fallen in love with it. For two weeks straight she had been researching and watching videos of it. She had even found several podcasts and shows on Youtube that played D&D, and she was incredibly surprised to find so many celebrities played as well. Much to her chagrin, she had always heard the game’s name and had a gut check response to be put off. When she imagined the game before, she imagined sweaty, basement-dwelling introverts huddled around a board. But she was surprised to find how common the game had become in recent years.

She had immediately decided that she would be running the game. Monika would take on the title of Dungeon Master, DM for short. She would craft an entire world for the girls to play in. The challenge ahead of her was immense, but she was never one to back down from it. For the past two weeks she had been filling a binder with sheets, maps, notes, and everything in between. Honestly, it was more work than she had put into most of her classes! But she could give these girls nothing but the best if she were to draw them in. One bad session was all it took to drive them away from the idea forever. 

She only had one shot to impress them. And she wasn’t going to waste it. Once she arrived home, she was delighted to find a package sitting on her desk in her room. She swiftly sliced the packaging tape with a thin pocket knife tucked away in one of her drawers. Inside was the gold. All the books she needed to play the game. The manuals, the guide, and even a big stack of character sheets. This was all she needed to create an entire world--no! An entire narrative universe! Monika had stars in her eyes. She would be writing an entire world that shifted and twisted with every single narrative decision. Character deaths, major events, plot twists, all of them raced through her head! She was the god of a brand new world! 

She held the player’s manual up to the light to admire the artwork on the cover. It was beautifully illustrated inside and out. Every page was so detailed and meticulous. Each illustration a work of art that she’d love to have framed and put on her wall. She thumbed through it, but in truth, she had already gained nearly all the information she needed online. She coughed to herself as she glossed over her temporary piracy. 

“It’s not illegal if you buy it later, right?” She questioned herself as she flipped open another book to retrace some of her steps. In no time at all, she had surrounded herself with notes and sheets once more, her hands scribbling and drawing faster than she could keep up with. By the time she was confident she had everything she needed to present tomorrow, it was already past midnight, a rare occurrence for Monika. She shut all the books and attempted to pack them into her normal backpack, but found the extra weight and girth to actually forbid her pack from zipping shut.  
She chuckled at the fact that she had to withdraw another spare backpack from her closet. It was a much rattier purple one from a previous year that she thought would never see the light of day again. But no matter how aesthetically displeasing it was, it sure did hold things. And at the end of the day, that was all Monika could ask of it as she stuffed her organized chaos into the bag.

Monika drifted through her classes the next day with little care. She had an entire world to write and explore. How could she care about real history when she had to make her own? She found herself stuck on several major events in her universe. The idea of wars over the use of magic intrigued her, but overall felt a little too cliche for her to use. It was a relief to her that she really only had to tell the girls what she wanted them to know about the world. That gave her time to finish the rest of it. It was like walking through an artist’s gallery to find they had put a curtain up, and were furiously hacking away at it to finish it before you peaked behind it. 

But she was getting ahead of herself. They hadn’t even said yes yet. Not to mention that they still had to get through character creation if they did. Characters. Now that would be an interesting part. She tried to remember all the classes off the top of her head. A couple of the magic users slipped her mind, but she had a pretty good guess at which classes and races they would pick to create their characters. With only twenty minutes left to her last class of the day, Monika was all but white-knuckling her D&D bag. The bell had rung, this was it. The moment of truth. 

Monika usually wasn’t the first into the club. Usually she found herself second, sometimes even third, but rarely ever last. But not today. For all the girls had gathered in the room before her. They had all arrived early. She wasn’t even late this time! She hoped that was a good sign.  
“Okay, everyone!” Monika tried to halt the shake in her voice. “Did everybody do their assignment?” The girls shared glances. Monika couldn’t decipher what the looks meant, but after some tense moments of silence, Monika felt like hiding her bag. How pathetic would it look if they denied her invitation, and here she was hopefully clutching a bag full of books like a little kid?  
“So, we’ve been talking,” Natsuki started.  
“And while it is a lot, and it seems like a lot of work, especially on your part,” Yuri continued.  
“We’re in!” Sayori finished. Monika all but jumped for joy.  
“You mean it? You guys really want to play?” Natsuki blushed.  
“Geez, don’t get so excited. It’s just a game.”  
“Oh, hush, Natsuki!” Sayori put an arm around her tiny shoulders.  
“She was going on and on about how excited she was!”  
“No I wasn’t! I was talking about how excited Monika would be! Shut up!”  
“I do have to agree with Sayori, Natsuki. You were definitely talking about how fun you thought this would be. If I’m not mistaken, you said this was just like a manga you had rea--”  
“Alright! Shut it! Unless you want me to change my mind!”  
“No, no!” Monika cut in. She could feel bubbles in her belly, and a giggle was rising up her throat like steam from a hot spring. “Everybody leave Natsuki alone.” Monika chided, sounding too much like a mother for her taste. Natsuki blew a raspberry at Yuri, winning a fight that only she knew she was having.  
“Well, Monika, if I’m not mistaken in my research,” Yuri started again, sounding like she was about to give a lecture on biology. “The first step is character creation. At least for us.”  
“Yeah, I couldn’t really figure all that out,” Natsuki chimed in. “It was a lot of reading.”  
“I wanna be that cool demon thing! With the horns!” Sayori yelled so quickly Monika had to take a second to register what she had said.  
“Oh, a Tiefling?”  
“Yeah! A tea fling!” Her incorrect pronunciation caused Monika to flinch slightly, but she didn’t want to dampen the girl’s spirit.  
“Okay, well, let’s back it up a little. First off, let’s get these desks together and get you guys some sheets.” And like a well-oiled machine, the girls assembled four desks into an even square, and Monika began placing a character sheet on each one, like she was setting a table for dinner. “Alright, how about we go around the table starting with Natsuki.” As the petite girl took her seat, she looked taken aback.  
“Uh, why me?” Her voice cracked ever-so-slightly.  
“Well, you usually prefer going first, don’t you?” Monika used her pride against her. To be honest, Natsuki was the one she worried about the most. All it took was one slight, one miscalculation and she might storm out, tearing her sheet up behind her.  
“Duh! Yeah, okay. So...uh…”  
“Would you like to look at the book for a minute?”  
“Yeah! Thanks!” Natsuki snatched the book from her hands, breathing a sigh of relief for the moment to think as all eyes went off her.  
“I already know what I’m gonna be. A tea fling!”  
“Tiefling, Sayori,” Yuri gently corrected her.  
“That’s what I said.”  
“No it’s not two words. It’s one.” What followed was a lengthy back and forth of Yuri repeating the word Tiefling, and Sayori desperately trying to parrot her. By the time Natsuki made her choice, Sayori had almost gotten it down. 

“Okay, I think I got it. I wanna be a barbarian!” A wide grin stretched across Natsuki’s face. Monika was spot on.  
“Ooh, what do they do?” Sayori leaned over her to peak at the book.  
“What do you think barbarians do? They get mad and smash stuff!” Natsuki pounded her fist on the desk, nearly sending her pencil clattering to the floor.  
“It’s called Rage. It lets the barbarian do a whole lot of things, but getting resistance to damages and extra damage output is the big one.”  
“Yeah, that sounds awesome!” Natsuki was clenching both fists, looking like she was about to attack somebody herself.  
“Alright, well, first we need to get your ability scores. Wait, what race are you going with?” And Natsuki paused. The words were caught in her throat for a moment as she muttered.”  
“Dwarf.” Fitting, Monika thought, but didn’t dare say. Natsuki lifted her head, ready for the insults and mocking to begin, but Monika was pleased to see that nobody had taken the opportunity. And Yuri even extended an olive branch.  
“You know that’s an excellent choice for that class from what I’ve read. Strength and Constitution are very important for the barbarian, and you get a significant increase from your racial traits. That’s a very well-thought out choice, Natsuki.” Natsuki coughed, and lifted a hand to scratch her nose, but in reality it was an attempt to hide her blushing face.  
“I mean...yeah! Duh, ya know? Anybody could see that. I’d be an idiot if I couldn’t at least do basic math like that. But, uh, thanks.” Monika got the strong feeling Natsuki had simply picked the class because its small stature spoke to her, but she didn’t want to spoil the moment. 

“Alright, so before we do anything, we need to get your ability scores. These are what you’re going to use to modify your rolls. In other words they’ll be used in just about every single aspect of the game. But no pressure!” Monika definitely applied pressure. “Uh, hey! You can do a few things to decide! You can roll for them, or use the point-buy system, or even take the standard setup.” Monika could hear the birds beginning to chirp around Natsuki’s head. Monika was painfully aware of how much she needed to slow it down.  
“I-I think I’ll just take the default or whatever you said.” Monika nodded, and helped her write down and calculate her ability scores. When all that math was said and done, Natsuki had a pretty decent character, with only one negative modifier: her intelligence score. Yuri leaned over and saw this as well.  
“You don’t think you might need that later?”  
“I’m not very smart. Uh, my character, I mean. Obviously. Barbarians don’t have to be smart, dummy. If you’re so concerned with it, why don’t you be the smart one?” Natsuki shot back, but thankfully Yuri kept her cool. Meanwhile Monika felt the bile rising up her throat with every little spark.  
“Well, I think you’ll be delighted to see what I’ve got in mind when you’re done then.”  
“Alright, Natsuki almost through here, just a few more things. You gotta have a background and a backstory. We can work on the backstory more later, but you gotta pick a background from this list here, see?” She handed Natsuki the book again for her to review. After some time she pointed to one called Outlander.  
“Yeah, that makes sense for a barbarian. Pretty useful too.” Natsuki nodded and scribbled it down.  
“So, barbarians don’t really wear armor, so we just have to pick a weap--”  
“Greatsword! I want a greatsword! The big one you hold with two hands!” Natsuki got so close and so excited that Monika could smell her breath. It smelt like peppermint for some reason. 

“Alright, calm down, tiger, we can get you a sword. Alright, I can help you with all the little stuff from here, but the last big thing we need is your name.”  
“Uh, it’s Natsuki?” The genuine confusion of that statement induced a ten second silence.  
“No, your character’s name, Natsuki.”  
“It has to be different? What?”  
“Yes, you’re playing a role, Natsuki,” Yuri chimed in.  
“Like acting! Or pretending!” Sayori included herself in the conversation.  
“Uh...then make it...N-N...Natsu.”  
“Natsu? You sure?”  
“Yeah! Why not? It’s a cool name!”  
“Of course, of course. Whatever you want, Natsuki.” She gave a little huff as she crossed her arm and looked away. “Alright it’s looking like Natsuki is ready, how about you two?” 

“Okay, me next,” Yuri proudly took up her sheet, which she had semi-filled out already. “I took the liberty of following along, and you may check my sheet if you’d like.” She handed the slip of paper to Monika. As she glanced over it, the first thing she noticed was how articulate Yuri’s handwriting was. It was almost like calligraphy. Monika made a mental note of that. She could get her to do some prop work for her later in the campaign.  
“My character’s name is Levarna Nightingale, she’s a half-elf who struggles between the world she was born in and the one she was introduced to. Always fighting. Always struggling between her nature and her desire.” Yuri seemed to fade away from the table as she began giving this monologue. Monika had the strong desire to shine a spotlight onto her. “Her mother was a powerful witch of the woods, bending nature to her will, and befriending animals to use as her allies. None could oppose her. But her father, a dashing rogue, stole not only her most treasured possession, but her heart as well. When she finally caught him, she found herself seduced by his charms, and unable to resist him.” Yuri’s tone began to grow more and more dramatic as she continued to this part of the backstory. Monika cut a glance at Natsuki, who was looking equally concerned. “His body was covered in more scars than any tree in the entire forest. His hair was a matted tangle of chestnut locks that framed his face just so. He was a god among men, and the only one who had ever been able to penetrate the cold layer of ice around her heart. And then--”  
“Yuri, I hate to stop you, I really do. Trust me, but uh...how long does this go on for?” Yuri looked genuinely taken aback.  
“I wrote...16 more pages last night.” Natsuki sharply sucked through her teeth.  
“That’s...listen, that's wonderful. And I will happily read through that later. But uh, let’s just stick to the important details okay?”  
“But it’s all important! Every little detail is what inspires her decisions in life as she struggles with the rapscallion nature her father taught her, but the willpower her mother instilled in her--”  
“Yuri, we’re running out of time.”  
“Oh...oh, well...I picked Half-Elf for my race and Ranger for my class.” Monika reviewed her sheet, and Yuri had put it together nearly perfectly for somebody who had only heard the instructions second-hand, and her stats were pretty well balanced as well. Monika beamed at the thought that Yuri might be a natural at this.  
“Hey, let me see!” Natsuki snatched the sheet from her hand. “Pft! You have, like, no skills! Rangers suck!”  
“T-That’s not true! Look at how many languages I can speak. And-and all my proficiencies!” Natsuki paused for a moment and compared her meager roster of languages compared to that of Yuri’s. And in a trademark move of Natsuki, she laughed boldly.  
“Barbarians don’t need to talk. We fight our way through things.” Natsuki flexed a tiny arm, producing a muscle you’d need a microscope to see. Monika was beyond jovial to see how into the role Natsuki was getting...even if it did mean mocking Yuri for a bit.  
“Well, Yuri, uh...you nailed it. This’ll work.”  
“Are you sure? Because you can review if you need to.” It seemed Yuri was actually a little disappointed that Monika didn’t need more time to look over her sheet. She considered it, but a brief glance at her watch changed her mind.  
“No, you got it in one go, but we can look over it later if we need to. Alright, Sayori, let’s do this!” 

“Tiefling!”  
“Got that. But first let’s get your scores. How do ya wanna this?” Sayori popped her finger and thumb under her chin for a moment, thinking deeply before lighting up the room with another smile.  
“I wanna roll for it!” Monika bit her lip.  
“Are you sure about that?” Monika asked the question every DM would become very familiar with.  
“That seems like a bit of a gamble, Sayori. You could end up with terrible stats,” Yuri leaned over to provide advice of her own.  
“Pft, who cares? It’s a game! Let her roll!” Natsuki encouraged the girl.  
“Alrighty then.” Monika dug through her bag to produce a small drawstring bag about the size of the palm of her hand. From inside it she retrieved four standard dice.  
“Alright, real quick lesson. I know we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but you see these six-sided dice?”  
“Lookin’ right at ‘em,” Natsuki deadpanned. 

“Well we’ll call these D6’s. Every die is labeled like that. D8, D10, D12, and D20, which is this one.” She held up a twenty-sided die. On the 20 of the die, there were little lights that would blink when you rolled it. Monika was terribly excited for the first natural 20 of their game, but it could be sometime before that happened. “Moving on, Sayori roll four D6’s for me, okay?” Monika gently handed Sayori a handful of the monochrome dice. In truth, she had ripped those exact ones from a board game box, but nobody needed to know that.  
“Alrighty, don’t fail me now!” Sayori called out as she watched the dice bounce and dance across the flat surface of the desk.  
“Alright, so after we take away the lowest one...that’ll total up to...11! Okay, not great, not terrible. Let’s see what else we can get. I’m gonna need you to do that five more times.”  
“I’ll keep track,” Yuri volunteered, scribbling on a sheet of notebook paper. Monika could already tell Yuri was going to be a valuable asset. 

And so Sayori repeated this process a number of times. 11, 14, 14, 16, 16, and 12 were the numbers she ended up with. Monika breathed a sigh of relief, as she feared Sayori wouldn’t be having any fun if she had totally botched her rolls. Frankly, Sayori had ended up with the best stats of the club, which Natsuki was fuming about.  
“What? She doesn’t have any negatives? Do over!” Sayori chuckled, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.  
“Sorry, I’m just a natural roller! See, Monika, I’m already winning!” Monika smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be a disaster after all.  
“Okay, so, you wanted to be a Tiefling, we got that, what about your class?”  
“The music one!”  
“You mean a bard?”  
“Yeah, I wanna play the little...the tiny guitar? Kinda like a ukulele?”  
“I think she means the lute.”  
“Yeah, loot!” Monika basically took over for Sayori on the writing down of all her stats and other tidbits, but Sayori stopped her when she started to write down her background.  
“Uh...I want to go with Charlatan.”  
“Oh, yeah? So, your bard is good with disguises and stuff?” Sayori bit the inside of her cheek.  
“Yeah! You could--you could say that.”  
“Okay, now how about the name? There’s a little list in the book if you need some inspiration.”  
“Sunflower!”  
“You want your bard to be named Sunflower?”  
“Yeah, I love sunflowers, so why not?” Monika couldn’t fault the logic. And so with one deft movement, she printed the name “Sunflower”.

“Alright. We might have to take another look over everybody’s sheets before we play, but I’ve got one last little idea. And this is something new, this is what’s called “Homebrew” on the internet.”  
“Homebrew?”  
“Yeah, what’s that?”  
“It means it’s an idea I had that’s not really...standard. It’s just a little thing, I don’t think there’s gonna be very much homebrew in this campaign.” Oh, how Monika from the future would cackle at that statement. She cracked the player’s manual to a page with a long table of seemingly completely random items. “Okay, everyone, welcome to the trinket table. What I want everybody to do is roll two D10’s to decide what trinket you get. Oh, a D10 is the die that looks like this.” Monika held up an oblong shape that she had no idea the name for.  
“Oh, that’s a pentagonal trapezohedron!” Sayori pointed out, much to the surprise of literally everybody. “What?”  
“Sayori, I didn’t even know that,” Monika replied.  
“I thoroughly enjoyed geometry.”  
“Didn’t you say you cried over your algebra homework everyday for a week?” Natsuki inquired.  
“Yep!” Sayori simply replied, then left it at that.  
“Okaaay. Well, anyway. Go ahead and roll first, Natsuki.” She handed over the dice that she would never remember the name of.  
“Alright, I’ve got great luck. Here we go! 13! My lucky number!”  
“Doesn’t 13 usually mean bad luck?” Natsuki scowled.  
“So what? It’s my number!”  
“Well, you goooot...A tooth from an unknown beast!”  
“Oh, that’s rad! I wanna wear it around my neck like a necklace! Can it be like this long, like a fang? Like a wolf?”  
“Maybe, we’ll see about it. Anyway, Yuri you’re up.” Natsuki begrudgingly handed off the dice, obviously not finished talking about her tooth. 

“Okay, here we go. Um...93! That’s high, right? That’s good.”  
“Unfortunately, in this exact situation high doesn’t really mean much, but hey, that’s still a good roll! You got...an empty wine bottle with a pretty label that says “The Wizard of Wines Winery, Red Dragon Crush, 331422-W.” And before Monika even finished, a flush crept up Yuri’s neck, and a cackle shot out from Natsuki’s.  
“Ha! It’s the wine bottle you brought last month! Good to see ya finished it! Haha!” Even Sayori and Monika had to join in on the laughter. That memory had almost completely slipped from Monika’s mind. In truth, it was a little sad. It was one of Yuri’s first attempts at branching out, only to miscalculate once again. But it was good to see it getting some laughs, and after Natsuki’s prodding, even Yuri was able to let out a chuckle about it. 

“Okay, I’m up. Don’t fail me now pentagonal trapezohedron!”  
“Please stop saying that,” Natsuki groaned.  
“Alrighty, it’s a...95! Hey that’s an A!”  
“You got...oh...a...petrified mouse.” Monika wasn’t sure how Sayori would take that, knowing her love of animals. But surprisingly, her mood didn’t dampen at all.  
“Yay! I’ll call him Jack!”  
“Jack?”  
“Yeah, like Colby-Jack! Ya know? Cheese? Mice and cheese? Eh?” Sayori nudged Natsuki who put an elbow to her shoulder.  
“Boooooo! Not funnyyyy!” Natsuki extended melodramatically.  
“Well, you don’t have to be such a muenster about it.” Monika chuckled as Sayori continued her onslaught of puns. As she gathered all the paperwork together, and looked over the sheets, she was filled with a strange sense of excitement. There was a whole new world of adventure out there, all she had to do was start putting pen to paper. Starting tomorrow, there would be dragons to slay and dungeons to explore.


	2. Starting Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls prepare for their first day of adventuring. It's always the hardest, they say, but it may be even more difficult getting there in the first place. Struggles of the physical, mental, and emotional kind stand as obstacles before them, but the girls must overcome if they hope to achieve their goals. And with a little help from friends, they just might find themselves making some progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To indicate a switch between in and out of game, I've used & symbols. Hopefully this isn't too jarring, as this is mostly for brief explanations and bits of comic relief. Also, I've never written anything on this site in particular, so I'm not really sure how the formatting works, as I copy and paste my work from a Google doc, so if it needs work just let me know.

The next day was a strange one for everybody in the club. For Monika, it was a deluge of both creativity and self-doubt. For every great idea she had, ten bad ones came to mind before it. She had actually procured a notebook specifically for noting down ideas, and at this point, she had already filled out a quarter of the pages. 

And about half of those ideas were crossed out, some with notes beside them such as “too confusing” or “not very fun.” But occasionally Monika had an idea she enjoyed so much she felt the need to highlight it in bright green. On the first two pages of this notebook she had clearly and concisely planned today’s session out so that it would run smoothly and quickly. Unbeknownst to her, Murphy’s law would soon show its ugly head.

On the player side of things, between classes Yuri, Sayori, and Natsuki had planned to come together to discuss some matters of importance. Sayori practically skipped down the long white hallway. It was mostly barren down this wing except for the occasional poster or cork board with trivial reminders pinned to it. Her bag hung lazily off her slender shoulder. The top of the bag remained unzipped, with about enough room for somebody to put an outstretched hand through. Sayori went about her day, blissfully unaware of the precarious nature of her bag. 

She approached the stairwell, where two silhouettes stood in the shadow of the landing. She called out to them, waving both hands with vigor. The curvier silhouette gave a shy raise of the hand, while the miniature form rose and approached. It was Natsuki, of course. Sayori could have spotted her from a mile away with that height.  
“We’ve been waiting forever,” Natsuki complained as Sayori approached.  
“It’s okay, Natsuki, calm down,” Yuri said.  
“Yeah, Natsuki, don’t worry about it! I’m here and I’m all ready.” Natsuki raised an eyebrow, then looked her up and down. She clicked her tongue.  
“You got your notebook?” Sayori slid her bag from her shoulder to her hand, and began rifling through it.  
“Yep!”  
“Pencils?”  
“Yep!”  
“Got your character sheet?” Sayori dug into her bag all the way up to her elbow.  
“Uhh, yep!” She retrieved the crumpled, creased piece of paper and held it up proudly. Yuri sighed in the background, and Natsuki sucked her teeth. 

“Gah! You gotta put it in a binder or something! Don’t just throw it in there! Geez! Give it here.” She snatched the paper from Sayori and attempted to flatten it out enough for it to be presentable.  
“I agree, Sayori, you can’t be so careless with that sheet,” Yuri’s voice resonated with a slight echo, making her already gentle voice sound like lavender and silk. Natsuki had flattened out the sheet against the wall and was now using her forearm to try and iron out a particularly stubborn wrinkle.  
“If you let this thing get all torn up, Monika’ll think you don’t care!” Guilt was beginning to gnaw at Sayori’s gut. She opened her mouth to murmur an apology, but all that came out was a nervous chuckle. “Monika’s put a lot of work into this, we can’t let her down.” That made Sayori break out into an ear-to-ear grin. 

“Aw, Natsuki.” She stopped her ironing to throw a sideways glance at the beaming girl.  
“W-What?”  
“It’s sweet to see you care so much.” A powerful heat crawled up Natsuki’s neck and over her cheeks.  
“It’s whatever! I just don’t want her to be all mad at us, alright? Geez, Yuri, could ya do something here?” Yuri chirped at the sound of her name.  
“Oh, yes. Maybe try this.” Yuri delicately took the paper from Natsuki’s equally delicate hands and began rolling it over the edge of a small table that was left in the hallway. From what they could see it seemed to be at least moderately more effective. 

While Yuri was dealing with that, Natsuki turned back to ask her final question.  
“Oh, you got your dice?” Sayori confidently nodded as she began rifling through her bag once more. That confidence slowly dripped out of her as she exasperatedly slid her hand through the bottom of the bag, only to feel nothing but the edges of books and papers. Anxiety quickly took its place. 

Sayori upended her bag onto the floor, sending a scatter of papers fluttering through the air.  
“Sayori!” Natsuki exclaimed as she snatched one of the rogue bits of homework from the air. Yuri turned back from her repairs to notice the outburst. Sayori was on her hands and knees shuffling through papers and flipping binders open, desperately searching for her dice.  
“No, no, no!” She cried.  
“Sayori, calm down.” Natsuki’s eyes widened as she witnessed Sayori’s increasingly frantic search.  
“I lost them! I lost the dice! I’m such an idiot!” Fat, hot tears of dread began filling Sayori’s eyes, but she blinked them back. It only now occurred to her how outlandish her episode looked from the outside. She had to recover. She couldn’t let them see it. She couldn’t let them know. 

She forced a laugh. She prayed it sounded genuine.  
“I’m sorry. I just...I know I had them, ya know? I checked just a minute ago.” Sayori began gathering her papers and books with the help of Natsuki and Yuri.  
“Well, geez, that’s what happens when you leave your bag open.” Natsuki sighed and shook her head. A wave of relief washed over Sayori. She didn’t suspect anything.  
“If you checked a minute ago, then they couldn’t be far from here. I’ll go take a look.” Yuri handed Sayori the sheet and began searching the hallway she’d come from with a sense of purpose.  
“I just felt bad, ya know?” Sayori continued her apology. “Everybody got so ready, and here I am holding us up. Hehe.”  
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll find em. Nothing to go tossing your bag in the floor for. Oh, dang, we missed one.” Natsuki spotted the last sheet of paper. A simple sheet of notebook paper that had half-hidden itself under a set of lockers. 

Sayori’s eyes widened as she recognized a doodle in the corner of the margin. Her stomach dropped out like a rotten floorboard. Above all, nobody could see that paper. Natsuki reached forward, but it was much too slow against Sayori’s full-body dive toward it. She shielded the paper from view with her body, then tucked it into the inner pocket of her school uniform blazer. She then rolled over, still on the ground and gave a radiant smile.  
“Too slow!” She extended a peace sign and a wink. Natsuki shook her head and snorted.  
“So weird, Sayori.” The petite girl rose, then offered a hand to her.  
“I know. But somebody’s gotta be, right?”  
“I guess. Oh, hey, Yuri looks like she found something. Yuri!” Natsuki traveled down the hall, leaving Sayori behind. In that moment of solitude, Sayori bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. That had been beyond too close. 

The final bell tolled. It was a call for freedom for most, but for some it was a call to action. Students weaved and bobbed their way through the exiting crowds to find safe haven in various rooms. Some were all but fished out of the crowd by their eager clubmates. Natsuki was one of those fish struggling against the raging rapids that was the student body. Not to mention the terrible disadvantage her diminutive size gave her. Eventually she was able to all but throw herself from the crowd and find a moment of respite against a pillar.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she gave the crowd a few moments to pass by and decompress. She struggled to see the tail end of the pulsating river of people, but waiting was out of the question. She refused to be late. Not today. She took a moment to formulate a plan. Once she had, all she had to do was choose a target.

“You!” She cried as she snatched the hand of a tall, lanky young man. He cawed like a crow in shock when she snatched his clammy hand, then spun him around to face the crowd.  
“Who are you?” was the question he decided to go with. Natsuki ignored it as she put a hand on his back, and pushed him forward still holding his other hand like a handle. He stumbled and nearly tripped as he made contact with the first person ahead of him.  
“Hey, watch it!” the shorter boy shouted as he was pushed to the side, nearly drowning in the uncaring river.  
“Who are you?” he repeated, only to be ignored again. Natsuki could see the stairs to her left. She just needed a little more room. The lanky boy she was currently using as a battering ram began to wisen up to the situation and yanked his arm away from her. 

She tried to hold on, but her own arms simply weren’t strong enough. That was okay. She had feet. She pulled a leg up to her chest, placed her foot on the young man’s backside, and launched him forward. This time he did trip. Thankfully, he was unharmed, just incredibly confused and discombobulated. As his giant form toppled over, it cleared enough of a path in the shuffling student body for Natsuki to leap over his prostrated form and find safe passage on the other side of the river.  
“Who are you?” he called out to her one last time.  
“Natsuki! Thanks!” She replied gleefully, not even wasting the time to turn around to see his confused expression. 

Yuri sat at her desk, thoughtlessly tapping her pen. Monika had already arranged the desks for the game, so there wasn’t much she could find to do to kill time as they waited for Natsuki’s arrival. She looked Monika over. The club president was in her own world, and if Yuri listened hard enough, she could hear her muttering to herself. It sounded like she was trying out character voices. Sayori to her left had thankfully recovered from her fit a couple hours ago, and was back to her cheery self. 

All were ready and raring to go...so where was Natsuki? Yuri chewed on that question for quite some time. She saw the enthusiasm in Natsuki’s eyes, so she knew for a fact she hadn’t ditched the club. Yuri figured that she perhaps had a prior engagement she may have forgotten about. Or perhaps something silly like somebody held her up to confess their love for her like in her mangas. Yuri smiled at the thought of that. 

Sometimes she couldn’t help but notice Natsuki’s adoption of manga characteristics. Her feisty, lively temper, her pouting, her denial of feelings. She was a classic...Yuri struggled to remember the word. It ended with “dere” she remembered, but the beginning escaped her. She found that odd. With as much time as she spent in her own head, Yuri figured she had her thoughts locked down tighter than that. She valued her vocabulary above all. Without it, her poems would be significantly weaker.

She sighed. In fact, she spent too much time in her head, and not enough out of it. Here she was, surrounded by friends, yet she sat in silence pointlessly remembering words when she could be doing something. She could be striking up a funny conversation, sharing a personal anecdote, or perhaps making some suggestions for the game ahead of them. All of those would have been wonderful choices, Yuri realized. And yet she did nothing. How could it be so easy for the three of them to just speak their minds without worrying about sounding foolish? To Hell with it, Yuri thought, and parted her lips. 

Just as Yuri cracked open the abandoned cavern that was her mouth, Natsuki busted through the door, huffing and puffing.  
“Sorry! I got held up! People! I hate people.” Natsuki said through heavy breaths. Yuri tightly shut her lips. Back into the shell she went.  
“Good, you’re here!” Monika exclaimed, finally snapping out of her trance. Natsuki trudged through the room and took her place across from Yuri, who couldn’t help but notice she smelled slightly of sweat. Yuri had a sharp nose.  
“Did you run here?” Yuri braved the social stigma of asking that question.  
“Hell yeah I did! I didn’t want to be later than I had to.” Natsuki spun her hand in the air in a quick circular motion. “Come on, let’s get moving. Where we at?” Natsuki sat her bag down and retrieved her binder and other supplies. The others did the same, readying their own sheets and writing utensils.

Monika cracked a big smile as she shut her own notebook and brought out a binder.  
“Okay, everyone. Is everybody ready for their first session of Dungeons & Dragons?”  
“I am excited!” Yuri piped up surprisingly quickly.  
“Good to hear! Did everybody go over their sheets? Does everybody understand their--”  
“Yeees! Let’s go already!” Natsuki cut in, to the surprise of nobody. Monika nodded, taking the hint. She took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. It was show time. 

&&&&&

A rustling resonated through the desolate forest. From between two trees as thick as a giant’s femur, a small silhouette stomped its way through. A dwarf with fiery red hair that draped her shoulders like a blanket. Her simple clothing and adornments did little to hide the tight, dense muscles of her diminutive stature. Her countenance, nearly always set in a snarl, was a plain one, with the most notable features being the occasional scar that squiggled across her face like a rogue lightning bolt. From a distance, it would not be uncommon to mistake her for a male dwarf, but that was a problem among many dwarves. She wore no jewelry or accessories, unless one could call the mysterious tooth that dangled from her neck on a leather cord jewelry.

Natsu wandered through the thicket, kicking bushes and pushing low hanging branches aside. After one particularly irritating one hooked its way up her nostril, she let loose a low growl as she snatched the branch completely off the tree and sent it careening into the forest. She heard a low-pitched yelp immediately after. She shrugged it off, assuming it to be an animal of some sort, but a voice in the Common tongue proved otherwise.  
“Hello? Is somebody there?” Natsu didn’t reply, she merely attempted to sneak up on the figure. 

&&&&&

The girls at the table all waited with bated breath as Natsuki shook the large die in her hand. With one flick of the wrist, they went crashing and careening across the face of the table, eventually coming to a stop with their selected number facing up.  
“Aaaand that’s a 2,” Monika declared as Natsuki stared down at her first roll of the game with dismay. “Plus your modifiers, that's…a 3. Well…” Natsuki’s eye twitched.

&&&&&

Natsu trudged through the bushes, crunching every leaf, twig, and even a pile of animal bones on the way. Needless to say the stranger was anything but surprised when she finally appeared through the bushes. The eye contact they made, followed by several seconds of strained silence was more than awkward for even an outlander barbarian.  
“Sorry to sneak up on ya.”  
“You didn’t.” 

&&&&&

A burst of laughter from Sayori held the game up for several minutes as the girl attempted to compose herself after that brief interaction. Natsuki could feel that familiar heat creeping up on her, as could Yuri. Neither of them had really ever done any kind of character acting, so the two of them were in the same boat. But Yuri’s side seemed to be slightly better off as she cleared her throat and continued through.

&&&&&

“Hello, traveler, are you lost?” The half-elf before her asked. She was a woman bathed in a glimmering aura. Her pale skin all but sparkled in the sunlight, her midnight hair was intricately twisted into thick braids that hung over her shoulder, and her thin physique practically danced across the undergrowth of the forest, making next to no noise at all. Natsu was stunned. Stunned at the gaul of this half-elf to presume she was lost. 

“Pft, I don’t get lost. I discover,” she replied in a thick, roaring voice that sounded like molasses poured through gravel. “For instance, I just discovered you. Why are you trespassing on the land I just discovered?” The half-elf threw a hand up to cover her mouth.  
“I...I’m doing no such thing!”  
“Oh, really? Well, then I assume you’re here to pay homage then. Alright, go ahead. Whatever ya got’ll be fine.”  
“Wh-What?”  
“Gold, silver, jewels, anything shiny and valuable would be nice.”  
“Are you attempting to rob me?” This question was asked both in and out of game.  
“That all depends on what ya got.” 

&&&&&

Monika was genuinely blown away by how this first encounter had gone. While it was chaotic without a doubt, Natsuki at least seemed to be having fun. The petite girl smirked as she watched Yuri become increasingly more flabbergasted by this conversation. Monika wasn’t sure how fair it was using Yuri’s real-life social anxiety against her character, but there wasn’t much Monika could do besides break it up before Yuri’s first character ended up penniless. She looked to Sayori for assistance. She gave a knowing nod. Monika nodded in return. 

&&&&&

The bickering between the scruffy dwarf and the delicate half-elf was broken by the sound of wood beating on metal. A fairly standard sound for these parts: the sound of combat.  
“We’ll finish this deal later,” Natsu said as she rushed past the half-elf.  
“There is no deal!” she called out, tailing her. After a short sprint through the densely packed foliage, the duo came upon a clearing with two creatures: a tiefling, and a goblin. The goblin, only about a foot shorter than Natsu, was a disgusting thing. It had mucus dripping from its elongated nose, its finger and toenails, uncut and uncleaned, dug into the dirt with every step, what few yellowed and jagged teeth it had looked as if somebody had carved them out of sulfur, and what little bit of hair it had it kept in a loose top-knot that shook and swayed with every swing. 

The creature it was swinging at was much easier on the eyes. A bright yellow tiefling with horns curled like a ram’s on the side of her head. She had a mop of brown curls that bounced and shook with each step. Her eyes were large pools of caramel, with pupils so wide they nearly overshadowed her irises. Natsu rolled her eyes at meeting yet another beauty in the woods, but what struck her as odd about this one was that her smile remained bright, even in combat. Losing combat, she might add.

“Hey, you!” Natsu called out to the creature. It paused its attack momentarily to cock its head and glare at Natsu. Sunflower took this moment to step back, huffing and puffing, shortsword shaking in her hand. Laverna rushed to the tiefling’s side as Natsu engaged with the goblin.  
“Are you quite alright?” Her prim and proper tone cut through the air like a thrown dagger.  
“Yeah, I’m good.” There was a brief pause. “I mean...yes, I am quite alright.” The tiefling gave her rescuers a sheepish smile as she sheathed her shortsword. “That guy’s tough!” She pointed at the goblin whom Natsu was currently circling with. Laverna gave her a sideways glance.  
“Surely you jest. 'tis but a solitary goblin.” She chuckled haughtily, sounding not unlike a seagull. “We’ll have this done in mere moments.” 

Natsu traced circles in the dirt as this goblin mirrored her. A quick step forward here, a fake-out there. Combat was all about the mind games. And she kinda knew how to play them. It was when the goblin found the nerve to blow a raspberry at Natsu did she finally rush forward. With her enormous sword in both hands, she reeled her entire body back, and with a force powerful enough to make the very air sing, she completely missed her target by a mile. The blade went soaring over his head, not even coming remotely close to hitting him.  
“Gah! Seriously?” Natsu cried indignantly. Her blow had failed, and now it was the goblin’s turn to swing at her. 

The tiny creature leapt into the air, club raised with both hands in an attack that looked exactly like a rewind of Natsu’s. Natsu watched in slow motion as this tiny creature enveloped her vision. The next thing she felt was a dull, disorienting pain as the goblin’s club clocked her on the crown of the head. Natsu felt a wave of heat rising up from her stomach. Anger and humiliation, a potent combination that brewed Rage. Unfortunately, she would need a moment to gather that rage together. 

In the meantime, Laverna finally chose this moment to step into the fray with her longbow. She had been quite smug watching the display Natsu had put on, and she felt it was her time to shine. As she notched an arrow, the same way she had a hundred times, she cut a sideways glance to Sunflower, smirked, then loosed the deadly projectile. And how deadly it could have been. 

Had it not only grazed the goblin for minimal damage. If anything, the goblin seemed more irritated by her attack than fearful. Needless to say, it was not the intended effect. Lavern huffed, shaking a loose strand of hair from her vision. She turned to Sunflower.  
“Don’t you have any spells you can use?” Sunflower drew her lute from a case on her back and began fiddling with it.  
“Uh...um…” It seemed as if the girl was taking a mental inventory of the abilities she had. Laverna grew rather impatient as she watched this goblin continue to mock her presence on the battlefield. “Uh, yeah, here’s one!” And Laverna watched as this gentle tiefling began strumming on her instrument, singing a few notes of an equally gentle song. Just a snippet of this gorgeous song filled her with joy and relief. So much relief that it infuriated her.  
“Ma’am...did you just heal me?”  
“Yep! I sure did!” There was a moment of silence between the two, and a distant outburst from Natsu as she tangled with the surprisingly hardy goblin.  
“I appreciate the sentiment...but I’m not hurt.”  
“Oh.” Sunflower took a survey of the battlefield and realized her mistake quickly. “Ohhh.” She coughed and kicked the dirt. 

Meanwhile on the other end of the field, Natsu was readying herself for another attack. This time she planned to put her back into it. The dwarf gave a loud growl of fury, then raised the lengthy sword high above her head--which wasn’t all that high, relatively speaking--and then brought it down in a straight arc onto the goblin’s head. Well, that was the plan at least. To her credit, she landed a solid hit. 

Instead of splitting this goblin in half like a ripe watermelon, instead Natsu brought the heavy blade down onto the creature’s shoulder. The attack had definitely drawn blood, but frankly, it seemed like the weight of the blade did more damage then anything. Nonetheless, it was an improvement. The goblin wasted no time in retaliating. 

He slid away from the blade, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he sidestepped Natsu and clubbed her once more, this time in the gut. She doubled over, the wind leaving her lungs with a kiss on the lips to remember it by.That hit had definitely found home. Her rage found no end as she watched the goblin dance and weave his way behind her. She spun around to face him. Unfortunately, even her small frame was still enough to block Laverna’s shot. Even more unfortunately, this was not enough to deter Laverna. 

The arrow went sailing through the air, and it struck with absolute confidence and certainty. It struck the wrong target. Natsu lurched forward as an arrow slammed into the area right between her shoulder blades. She made sure to make time to turn and glare at the moronic half-elf who had shot it.  
“If you didn’t owe me before, you do now!” She bellowed. Laverna shuddered and muttered an apology across the battlefield. 

The goblin inched closer and closer to the forest’s edge. He planned on escaping, Laverna could see that. They didn’t have much time left. They had to end this quickly. She looked to Sunflower once more.  
“Don’t you have any spells that can deal damage?” She asked, heaving a puff of exasperation.  
“Uh...hm...oh yeah!” A light bulb appeared over the tiefling’s head. “I’ve got one!”  
“Then use it!” Sunflower planted her feet steadily. She straightened her back, and with one deep breath, she called out.  
“Thunderwave!” She ripped a powerful note on her lute that sent out a visible shockwave. The trees and bushes shook and rippled, pebbles leapt into the air, puddles danced and exploded as this shockwave made its way past like an angry giant. And unfortunately, both the goblin and Natsu were in its path. 

First this blast shook Natsu. She dropped her weapon, putting both hands up defensively, as if she were shadow boxing some invisible opponent. She stood her ground, but definitely not without issue as this terrible shockwave rocked her entire body. The goblin on the other hand by no means was able to boast the same constitution. The sheer force of the blast sent his tiny body flying into the underbrush, rolling and tumbling for some time before coming to a stop in the foliage. Whether he was dead or unconscious none could tell, and most did not care. Sunflower took this as a victory either way. 

Laverna sighed.  
“Finally. That’s over.” Sunflower made her merry way over to Natsu, who was still standing in the same defensive position she had been, unmoving and unwavering.  
“Oh, sorry about that!” She laughed. “I guess I forgot how that spell worked, huh? You did great though!” She slapped Natsu on her firm, muscular, incredibly tense shoulder. She got no response from the barbarian. Like a statue with a loose base, as Sunflower slapped her, Natsu slowly tipped forward, then collapsed on the ground, much to the surprise and terror of both conscious party members. 

&&&&&

“And Natsu is now unconscious,” Monika declared matter-of-factly. “If somebody doesn’t stabilize her, she’ll need to start making death saving throws.” Sayori shrunk in her chair under the silent glare of Natsuki. No words. No outburst, just a disappointed, annoyed glare that could have started a bonfire. Yuri could feel the heat of that glare on her as well, but she pretended not to notice.

&&&&&

“I think it would be in our best interest to heal this woman,” Laverna commented, now standing over the unconscious body of the barbarian.  
“Right! Right! Uh, it’s times like these that we have healing word and healing touch!” Sunflower kneeled in the cool dirt to place both her hands on the tense back of the downed Natsu.  
“Well, what is the healing word?” Sunflower took a deep breath, and a radiant yellow glow began to form around her delicate fingertips and pearly teeth.  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she cried hysterically. With each frantic syllable, Natsu seemed to stir more and more until she was finally able to turn her head in the dirt to face both her attacker and rescuer.  
“Shhhhhhut up.” Natsu weakley put a hand to Sunflower’s lips. The tiefling nodded. 

After a few minutes of receiving some tender--and magical--love and care, Natsu was back on her feet, and back at it with her loud mouth.  
“Okay, so today I learned to never help people. That’s useful,” Natsu complained quite openly to the sheepish girls.  
“At least you were resistant to it?” Laverna replied in no more than a whisper.  
“I’m sure not resistant to thunderwave!” She locked her eyes on the tiefling, who was all but a few seconds from launching into another apology.  
“Let’s forget about all that. Let’s start with introductions. Hello, my name is Laverna Nightingale, I am a proud half-elf, my mother was quite a powerful--”  
“I’m Sunflower!”  
“Wasn’t finished.”  
“Natsu. It’s not been a pleasure meeting you.” The dwarf turned her back to the two.  
“Wait, where ya headed?” The tiefling swiftly circled around to block Natsu’s path.  
“Not here.” Sunflower blocked her with each step.  
“Well, why don’t we travel together? Doesn’t that sound like fun?” The glare she received was all the answer she needed. 

“She brings up quite the good point. These roads are dangerous, as we have seen.” She spared a hateful glance at the bushes that were now the resting place of the goblin. “ ’Tis only to get more dangerous from here, surely it would be safer to stick together.” Natsu sighed.  
“If you two are volunteering to be shields, then fine by me. But we’re goin’ wherever I say, got it?” Laverna cocked an eyebrow and a hip while she was at it.  
“Oh, yes?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Then where are we going?” Natsu’s jaw snapped shut. Suddenly everything was a lot more interesting to her than this conversation. The dirt, the sky, the entire area around Laverna’s head, all of it was pretty tempting to look at. “We’re...going to…wherever is smartest, duh.”  
“Ah, I see.” She smirked. “And that would definitely be the closest town, correct? Where we may resupply and find shelter?”  
“Why are you wasting time stating the obvious? Let’s go.” Natsu stepped forward and pushed through the wall of green with an overextended huff. About ten seconds passed before she returned.  
“Wrong wa--”  
“Yeah, I know, wrong way.”

&&&&&

Monika looked at the clock with shock. Two hours had already passed somehow. All they had done was meet and fight a goblin! How long could that have possibly taken? Needless to say, Monika was blown away with how little progress they had made. A short glance at her notes only had her checking off the first two bullets of her baker’s dozen long list. 

While she herself felt quite frustrated, she noticed the girls were having fun without a care for progress or time. They were making in-character conversation, which involved a lot of Natsuki insulting Yuri, and Yuri replying with snide comments while Sayori tried to delegate. It wasn’t very different from their usual back-and-forth, but this time, there was no real anger or discomfort in their talks. Each insult came with a suppressed smile, and each eye roll was followed by a chuckle. They were getting along for once. It was nearly too much for Monika to bear. Could this actually be the success she had hoped for? Had she finally broken through that wall? She didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but Sayori seemed to be having the same thoughts as she made eye contact with Monika, then the duo shared a warm smile. What a time to be club president.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The first bit of experimental narrative. I'm not entirely sure on this style of narration, but let me know what you think. I don't want to give anybody whiplash with the perspective shifts, but I feel they're necessary in certain portions. This chapter was mostly to get the toes wet, pretty soon we'll be diving in a lot deeper in a lot of aspects, so don't be surprised. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


	3. Monsters Abound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After suffering the slings and arrows of the fantasy world, the girls come to remember the pains of the reality around them. Some problems are in the mind, some in the heart, and some in the home. At the end of the day, there is no escaping them, and for some, fighting them proves to be a difficult task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anybody who might find this interesting, I'll let you know that in most instances I am actually rolling for these checks. I have a character sheet set up for each girl, and when they decide to make a check or roll, for the most part, what you're reading is the actual outcome. Sometimes I'll make it obvious, sometimes it might be more difficult to distinguish game from story, but I thought that might be fun for some of you. I know it is for me!

The entire party was dragging along at a lethargic snail’s pace. The dreaded goblin had not been the last of their encounters in the Winding Woods. They had faced natural hazards, animals with fiesty tempers, and worst of all, internal conflict. Three separate times they had made a complete circle because the only method they could decide on when it came to traveling was to take turns choosing the paths. 

Laverna found this particularly frustrating because of her abilities as a ranger, but nonetheless, Natsu’s headstrong nature forced her to compromise. The sun was beginning its slow descent, like a flaming giant falling from his castle in the sky. Natsu continued to stomp her way through the mud and twigs, ignoring Laverna’s carefully chosen words of advice.  
“If you look at the moss on a rock, you can actually tell--”  
“Shut up! Found it!” Natsu forcefully parted two bushes to reveal the glory of civilization nestled in a valley between two hulking mountains. 

It was shaped rather like a horseshoe, with one long, winding main road that made its way through the small town, then reappeared back at the front gate; if you could even call the entrance a gate. What “protected” the town was a low wall that even Natsu could leap with a running start, and the gate the barred entrance was made of rusted iron that anybody with any kind of battering ram, or just a strong shoulder and a can-do attitude could demolish. Half of the gate wasn’t even fully on the hinge; it drug through the dirt, digging a line in the ground whenever it swung open. 

The inside of the town wasn’t that much more impressive. It boasted a few shops: what looked to be a dilapidated bakery, an overcrowded inn, and a blacksmith with a sign that was held on by mere threads of frayed rope. In between those buildings were rather unimpressive single-story homes that were made cheaply and quickly. On the outside of town, just a few dozen yards from the gate, two pens containing livestock gave the visitors a wonderful preview of what they were to see inside the town: more shit. 

None of the trio were impressed by the tiny town, but all three were quite relieved. Even as they made their way down the hill, they were still forced to push through a wall of forest. The entire town’s perimeter was uncomfortably surrounded by foliage that threatened to take the town back with one good push. Obviously, nobody had cared enough to continue the groundskeeping.

As the trio finally emerged from the forest, they were greeted at the pens by a rambunctious mongrel, barking and snarling at them as they approached the animals.  
“With this smell, he probably thinks we’re forest predators,” Laverna commented, lifting her arm to smell the stench of sweat and mud that had overpowered her flowery perfume.  
“I’m not in the mood to deal with this,” Natsu huffed, throwing her head back. Meanwhile, Sunflower practically leaped to the front of the pack to introduce herself to the dog.  
“Hi there, buddy!” The canine lowered his entire body, and his ears shot straight up.  
“Sunflower, be careful,” Laverna outstretched a hand to her companion.  
“Eh, let her get bit. She’ll learn.” Sunflower then crouched down and outstretched a hand to the defensive creature.  
“Come on, I won’t bite.”  
“Yeah, but he might,” Natsu leaned over to watch the conclusion of her animal handling. 

And much to the party’s surprise, the dog ceased his snarling, and lifted himself back up, even wagging his tail as he began to sniff Sunflower’s outstretched hand.  
“Aw, there’s a good boy. See?” Sunflower began to immediately pat and pet the dog all over, rubbing his head and belly until his leg began to kick ferociously. 

“Oh, Max!” the voice of a young man called out. “Max!” A short boy with ragged black hair came marching down the path to the pens. The dog, hearing his name, shot up and ran to the boy’s side. “Boy, what did I tell ya about barking at strangers?” The young man looked to the visitors and gave a gap-toothed smile. “Howdy, my name’s Bart, and this is Max. I’m awful sorry if he gave you any trouble.” Laverna opened her mouth to speak, but much like prior conversations, others took the lead. Both Natsu and Sunflower spoke at once.  
“He’s a pain in the ass.”  
“He’s a wonderful dog!” Bart wasn’t entirely sure who to respond to, so he just gave a nod as he collected his dog and began his walk back to the town.  
“Oh, if you’re waitin’ on a welcome wagon, you might as well just come on in. There ain’t much to spare in Woodrot.” And without another word, the boy made his way back up the path to slip into the grimy town. 

“Woodrot? What kinda name is that?”  
“Well, it certainly doesn’t mislead.”  
“I like it. It’s nifty!” The girls all gave each other a shrug, and followed the boy’s path. Once they slid the unguarded gate open, they were greeted by smells and sounds that were only slightly more pleasant then the pen outside. Dozens of people were winding their way through the streets carrying all manner of things from fruit baskets to deer carcasses.The dirt roads were all but washed out by rain, and each step could easily send you crashing into the ground, which the girls witnessed happen twice on their walk to the inn. Woodrot lived up to its name, as nearly every house they passed Natsu was confident she could bring to the ground with one swift kick. The sturdiest building they came upon was the inn, which was named the Sour Donkey with a hoof print stamped below the name on the sign. 

They stepped onto the rickety porch, passing an old man with less teeth than fingers playing a tune on a pan flute.  
“You think teeth make a difference with a flute?” Sunflower spoke up for the first time since entering the town.  
“What?”  
“Teeth. You think having less teeth makes it easier to play a flute? Or harder?” Neither Natsu or Laverna cared to reply to that question, but it did stick with them. Inside the inn was at least moderately more comfortable than outside. There was a roaring fireplace in the far wall, but each table surrounding it was already taken by patrons who had drunk themselves to sleep hours ago. 

Not surprisingly, this inn was also the local restaurant, bar, and bathhouse, so finding peace and quiet here was all but impossible. The girls weaved their way past the wooden tables to find the bartender/innkeeper/bathhouse attendant. He was an older man with slicked back hair and a crooked nose. His eyes were small and set deeply in his skull, making him look quite a bit like a ferret. This thought entertained and preoccupied Natsu’s mind for the majority of the conversation. 

“How much for a room, good sir?” Laverna lead.  
“2 Silver for a night. 5 if you want breakfast.” Natsu scowled at the idea of actually paying for things. As Laverna began to reach for her purse, Natsu pushed her aside.  
“How about a trade? What will this get me?” And without any warning, Natsu slapped a dead badger onto the counter. Natsu had had a time with this one. She had the scratches on her ankles and face to prove it. However, this incredible feat of badger-slaying didn’t seem to initially impress the innkeeper.  
“Um...I don’t really have a need for that at the moment.” Natsu’s cold scowl quickly became a fiery glare as she wordlessly pushed the badger along the counter. 

The older man’s wrinkled hands made contact with the corpse of the mighty beast. Natsu gave a slow nod, and after a moment of pondering, the innkeeper decided giving up a room was cheaper than a trip to the apothecary.  
“W-Well, okay. But-but there’s only one room available!”  
“Fine with me. They can figure that out.” Natsu passed the counter to ascend the stairs.  
“Last room on the left!” he called up the stairs, leaving the two girls behind.  
“We’re sorry about her.”  
“She can be a little intense.” The two gave crooked smiles to the shaken man, then followed their compatriot up the stairs. The innkeep stood silent for several moments before finally looking down and observing the dead badger. He gave it an experimental prod and sighed. Hopefully he would be able to find a use for it. 

&&&&&  
“Okay, everyone, that’s where we’re gonna call it for the night,” Monika announced. All three girls felt like they had just come out of a trance. They hadn’t left the in-game world for two hours straight, and hearing an outsider’s voice felt like being shaken awake from a deep sleep.  
“Oh, man, really?” Natsuki asked.  
“Yeah, we’ve been at it for four hours now!” Monika exclaimed with wide eyes. Never before had four hours passed so quickly for her. It was as invigorating as it was strange.  
“Oh, my,” Yuri quietly commented as she gave a glance at the clock.  
“The sun’ll be going down here in a bit, we should probably all get going. I doubt any of our parents expected a literature club meeting to go on for this long.” Monika gave a sheepish laugh as she stood up. Her knees almost buckled. Her legs had fallen completely asleep. 

She caught herself, and attempted to remain upright with some dignity, but all the girls saw it. Before they could laugh, they attempted to stand up themselves, feeling the same dead weight below their waists as well.  
“Ah, pins and needles!” Sayori exclaimed as she shook her feet.  
“A break in the middle might be of some good to us next time,” Yuri poked the air as she spoke. All shared a laugh except for Natsuki, whose eyes had a shadow creeping into them. None could really tell what was going on in her head, but it was not unusual for Natsuki to distance herself. 

As the girls all gathered their materials, Monika piped up.  
“Okay, everyone, I hope you all enjoyed our first session of D&D.” She was met with a handful of cheers and appraisals. The majority of which came from Sayori. “Well, same time tomorrow then?” A wave of nods gave Monika the approval she so desperately hoped for. “Awesome! I’ll see you then!” As the door shut behind her, Monika could not contain the raw joy in her heart. She leapt into the air and gave a squeal of glee. She then immediately scanned the perimeter, praying that nobody had seen that. When she was sure she was in the clear, she straightened out her skirt and continued down the hall, eager to start her planning once more.

Sayori was the next to go. She rambled on for several minutes as she hung around the doorframe, obviously trying to wring out every last second of enjoyment from this session. Even as she finally passed the threshold, she still called out to Yuri and Natsuki, making jokes about the game. When her echoing voice finally disappeared, only the two were left: Yuri and Natsuki. 

Yuri felt a tightness in her chest, and it felt as if she had a lump in her throat. She wanted to speak so badly. She wanted nothing more than to continue talking like friends do, but without Sayori as a buffer, and without Monika as a leader, Yuri found herself unable to think of even a single thing to say. Her jaw unclenched slowly, as if she were prying open a bear trap. A warm breath slipped past her pearly teeth, and the trap snapped shut. Natsuki threw a confused glance at her, and Yuri’s lips curved unevenly to form a cartoonishly strange smile. 

Beyond simple conversation, Yuri wanted to talk for a deeper reason. She saw that look in Natsuki’s eyes. She wasn’t sure, but she thought that she recognized it. That was dread. The shadow of fear and anxiety clouded her bright eyes, and made her look half-a-corpse. Yuri recognized that look because she had seen it in the mirror many times before. Natsuki was suffering. There was something she didn’t want to face at the end of the day, at the end of the literature club meetings. How had Yuri never seen that look on her face before? 

As she watched Natsuki pack the last of her paperwork into her adorable pink backpack, Yuri’s mouth finally opened, and she practically shoved the words out of her mouth.  
“Do you need help?” Yuri blurted out, then immediately tried to vacuum the words back into her mouth. Natsuki’s head shot up, and her face scrunched up tightly. “With--with your bag, I mean. I could…” Yuri trailed off. There was no saving that.  
“No...thanks,” she said slowly and quietly. Natsuki turned and left the room, shutting the door gingerly behind her. 

Yuri felt a wave of warmth wash over her. Never before had she heard a “thanks” from Natsuki that sounded so genuine. It tore at her heart. She was so vulnerable in that moment, and Yuri couldn’t do anything. That was her chance to connect, and she failed. She put her head in her hands. What if she never got another chance? Yuri gave a groan of frustration as she finished her own packing. Yuri then decided to idle around the room for a few minutes, glancing at objects in the room and reading whatever she could find that was laid out. The idea of having an awkward meeting as she caught up to Natsuki petrified her, so she decided to play it safe and just wait it out. She sighed. Yuri couldn’t have felt more alone if she were the last person on Earth.

Natsuki felt a similar feeling of loneliness. Only it was accompanied by an intense wave of fear. Each step was an effort for her. With each one she heard a voice in her head screaming to go back, to leave, to do anything but walk through that door. But as she approached the front gate of her home, and saw the beat-up sedan in the driveway, she knew it was best for her to just face the problem head on. After all, brave people didn’t need words, they fought their way through things. Right?

Natsuki desperately clung to that bravery as she attempted to put her key in the front door, missing on the first few attempts. She steadied herself with the other hand and finally found the hole. The door unlocked with a click that seemed much too loud to her, and as the door swung open, she felt that courage disappear through her fingers like smoke. She was just a scared little girl, and the monster she was facing was sitting on the couch across the room. 

“Jesus Christ, there you are!” he shouted, irritation creeping into his tone. A man with bedraggled chestnut hair lounged on the couch with one arm over the back of it. Around his neck a tie was loosened to its limit, his shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned down to his chest, and his shoes were kicked across the room haphazardly. Under his glaring eyes were dark circles. Natsuki could tell from a distance that he hadn’t slept much the night before. That only added to the danger of the situation.  
“I’m sorry, papa, I didn’t realize what time it was.”  
“For four fucking hours? Yeah, bullshit. Where were you?”  
“I was at the literature club meeting.” He leaned forward, putting both elbows on his knees to stare deep into her soul. It took everything in her not to look away. That would only set him off further. 

“Natsuki,” he said with authority, “tell me where you were.”  
“I was at the meeting, I promise!” Natsuki felt a heavy weight in her stomach. Her lip was quivering.  
“Fine. Don’t tell me, then. Just know I know you’re lying.” Natsuki felt a wave of indignation. She never lied, but he never believed her. He always thought the worst of her, but it was never her place to correct him.  
“Okay, papa,” she said meekly. 

He stood with an extended groan. He walked with a limp. He was always in pain, Natsuki knew. It was always a toss-up whether it was his head, feet, or back, but he was always in some sort of pain.  
“I-Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked with a hint of hope in her voice. He was always more gentle with her when she had something helpful to do. He limped past her to lean on the kitchen counter. He wiped his face with one hand and pointed behind him with the other.  
“Dishes need done.” Behind him a stack of plates and glasses were piled up in a pool of dirty, grimy water. The smell alone was enough to make her gag.  
“On it, papa.” She sat her bag down by the door and removed her blazer. She wanted to get to work as quickly as possible. The sooner she smoothed things out the more comfortable she would be. He murmured something as she passed, but it didn’t sound entirely negative. 

He failed to mention the fact that it was his turn to do the dishes, but Natsuki would overlook that. This was a relatively easy task anyway. All she had to do was close her nose and not think about how horrendously disgusting the feeling of wet food chunks of her hands were. And so for ten silent minutes Natsuki rescued the dishes from the bilge water and rinsed them with clean, joyous hot water. It was quite satisfying to watch the disgusting plates stack into a nice, orderly pile of clean white porcelain on the counter beside her. 

“Hey, you remembered to dry ‘em this time,” her father mumbled, sounding half-asleep. She didn’t want to say anything to break that peace, so she took the backhanded compliment and rolled with it. Once Natsuki was about halfway through the pile, her father began speaking to her more frequently. He asked her idle questions and made small snippets of chatter. One question in particular stuck out to her.  
“So what do ya wanna do this weekend?” The question made her freeze. 

Her father had made somewhat of a habit out of taking Natsuki out somewhere on the weekends. She assumed it was him taking a tackle at being a good dad, but rarely ever did it end without him getting angry at her, or her wanting nothing more than to return home silently. Truth be told, it was an activity they hadn’t done in many years, and had only picked up in the past few months. Before that, Natsuki hadn’t gone out on the weekends since her mother was around.

“Well?” he asked, drumming his fingers on the countertop impatiently.  
“A-Anywhere you wanna go is fine with me, papa.” He took a sharp inhale, then sighed.  
“That’s helpful.” It was like a videogame to Natsuki. It was like there was a bar that represented affection and mood above her father’s head, and with each sentence it merely chipped away piece by piece. When it got down to its last, she would have no chance of salvaging it. Each choice in dialogue had to be carefully picked.  
“Well, what about that place by the river? We could go eat there.”  
“Charlie’s? Yeah, I guess. Their shit always gives me heartburn.”  
“It would probably help if you didn’t drink with every meal,” Natsuki so desperately wished to say. “We can go somewhere else, if you want,” is what she actually ended up saying.  
“Nah, it’s fine.” Her father finally lifted himself to the counter and walked past her toward the front door.  
“You forgot to lock the door! Again!” Natsuki flinched. 

A few moments passed by of silence. Natsuki heard the dead bolt click into place, and then the realization hit her. She had left her bag by the door. What if he checked it? What if he saw? The entire scenario played out in her head, and in no way did it end well. She couldn’t let that happen. She sat down the plate she was drying and wiped the excess water off on her skirt. 

When she came around the corner, her horrors were coming true before her very eyes. Her father was glancing at her bag. He hadn’t touched it yet, but he was standing over it, giving it a heavy-lidded glare, as if he could see into its contents if he squinted hard enough. It wasn’t the first time he had checked her bag without her permission, but more often than not, she had nothing to hide or explain. But this was something she hadn’t told him about, and seriously didn’t wish to. There was no way she could make him understand. It would be the same catastrophe as when he had discovered her stash of manga. 

Her father rolled his shoulders, and with a groan, began leaning down to rifle through the bag. Natsuki knew she had to stop him. She could tell him to stop, but that would only infuriate and encourage him. She could try to stop him physically, but her father was so much stronger than she could ever hope to be. And she didn’t feel like explaining to the club why she had bruises on her cheek. The only option left to her was a distraction. And the only idea she could come up with wasn’t a good one, but it was the best she could think of in those desperate seconds.

Natsuki’s father shot straight up, and released the bag when he heard it. It was a familiar sound that triggered his rage instantly. The sound of a plate shattering. God, how it got on his last nerve.  
“I’m sorry, papa!” Natsuki had skulked back into the kitchen. “It slipped!”  
“Jesus, Natsuki, are you serious?” He stomped his way back around to see her. She was facing the wall, her shoulders hunched. At her feet, the plate was now in dozens of tiny fragments. Natsuki could feel his rage like a sunburn on the back of her neck. “How many more of these damn plates are you gonna break?” He was getting closer. Natsuki told herself to be brave. She clenched her fist. “Are you listening to me?” 

Suddenly she felt a firm grasp on her shoulder, and without warning, she was spun around to face her father. Once again she found out that holding onto courage was easier in theory than reality. From this close she could smell the beer on his breath. It made her want to gag, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even speak. Natsuki gave a quick nod. Looking like a deer in the headlights.  
“Just move.” Her father all but shoved her out of the way. “I’ll do it. I have to do everything, don’t I?” Her father shook his head and muttered several swears as he rolled up the sleeves on his button-up. “Just go to your room.” Natsuki stood there. She had so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to do. “Are ya deaf? Go!” Her father snapped at her. 

Natsuki lowered her gaze to the floor as she left the kitchen. She made sure to covertly collect her backpack on the way up the stairs. She had succeeded, but she knew the rest of her night would be filled with cruel comments and spiteful glares. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t let him destroy what Monika had worked so hard on. As she slipped into her room, she locked the door behind her and retrieved her character sheet. Natsu the Barbarian stared back at her. 

Natsuki laughed at herself. Natsu wouldn’t have stood there like a good little girl. She would have told that asshole what he deserved to hear. She would have cracked him across the jaw and told him to shut up for once. She would...she wouldn’t be there in the first place. Natsuki clutched the paper to her chest as she felt a wave of hot tears well up in her eyes. She sank down against the door, and pulled her knees to her chest. She had so many things running through her mind in that moment, but one trumped them all. Why couldn’t she have the courage Natsu did?


	4. Quests, Jobs, Missions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayori struggles with the past and the present. Overcoming a problem that was once your entire world makes living your current life seem damn near impossible. But even the smallest challenges can become intimidating tasks, as the party is soon to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody is interested, I may post the girls' character sheets so that you can follow along. If anybody wants to, that is.

Sayori awoke to the blaring of her third alarm. She knew it was her third because she set each one to be louder and more vibrant than the last. This one was causing her phone to vibrate so violently that it was slowly edging closer and closer to the end of her bedside table. Groggily, she rolled over, slapping her hand onto the dancing device. After a few missed attempts, she deactivated the screeching alarm, then checked the time. The petite girl let out a groan that was larger than she was.

It was about an hour before school. Sayori knew she should get up. There was a weak effort given. She did somewhat of a pushup before collapsing back into the sweet embrace of the bed. The colorful phone bounced back onto the table, and decided that the fourth alarm would be the charm. 

When it came, Sayori felt no stronger than she did before. Now she had 45 minutes. Even less time, and what did she have to show for it? She wiped the crust out of her eyes, and flicked the loose strands of hair from her vision.   
“Okay, for real this time,” she muttered to herself in her scratchy morning voice. She gave her cheek a weak slap in an attempt to motivate herself. It didn’t work. In no time at all, she felt her eyelids falling like the blade of a guillotine. She dropped just like a corpse. Number 5 it was, then. 

In the end, Sayori had only had fifteen short minutes to ready herself before rushing out the door. Her hair was a tangled mess, both eyes were still clouded with the influence of sleep, and the buttons on both her shirt and blazer were out of place by one, leaving one too high, and the other too low. Her feet pounded the pavement as she rushed down the path to the school. 

Her stomach gave her a sharp bite. Food had not been at the top of her priority list, unfortunately. Sayori was exhausted, hungry, and irritable as could be. But she would iron out those creases of crossness before she arrived at school. She couldn’t let anybody see the Sayori that just rolled out of bed. 

Her speedy gait decelerated to a lazy amble as Sayori’s brain began to slip into daydreaming. She thought about the one person who had ever seen her in that state. The boy next door. She couldn’t even remember his entire name, but he always shortened it to MC. Soon, the rumble in her stomach wasn’t the only pang of pain she felt. 

Her gaze went to the house looming over her. It was by no means remarkable to most, but to Sayori, it held a plethora of memories, both enjoyable and painful. She didn’t have the time to stop, but she slowed down considerably to reminisce. It was abandoned now, awaiting a buyer to move in and give it new life. It had been that way for nearly a decade now, but before its life support was cut off, it was a sanctuary of peace and joy for Sayori. Well, it was more about who lived in the house rather than the house itself.

They had spent years in each other’s constant company. For so long, they had walked to school together every single day. It was at this moment the crushing wave of loneliness caught up with Sayori. She wasn’t just by herself, she was missing somebody. There was a vacant, gray slot where a colorful, warm body should have been. She clenched her tiny hands into fists. They had grown up together, how could she have not fallen in love with him? His goofy smile, his constant jokes, the way he always had confidence in every situation; Sayori drank it all in. He was so radiant, and so warm. 

“Like the sun,” she muttered to herself. She continued down her path with a sense of haste, but her mind was still fogged over. Every memory they shared was one she treasured like a fine jewel, or an antique photograph. She held onto each one desperately, even as they slipped from her mind. With each passing day, those moments only seemed further and further apart until it seemed impossible that those memories even belonged to her. She wanted to take those shining memories and hold them to her heart. She wanted to be his sunflower. 

A lump formed in her throat, and then a hollow hole in her gut appeared. That radiance turned to a vicious sunburn when she saw him. His tall, sturdy frame swayed lazily down the way. He walked without a care in the world. Not a second thought about who he had hurt. She glared at the back of his head like she was trying to put a hole in it. How could he not have seen it? How could he still not see?

Her shaky rage fumbled in her heart as she admired those chestnut locks. The way they curled to and fro playfully made her want nothing more than to run her hands through them. His thin hips swayed back and forth as he meandered; she wanted to wrap her arms around them, pull him close, and never let go. She couldn’t see it, but she knew he was smiling. That dazzling smile that put all others to shame. The one she tried to copy. The one she wanted to have. 

MC truly was her inspiration, if not her role model. Sayori didn’t know how to smile before he came along. People had always told her to “chin up” but that only confused her as a girl. No matter what way she twisted or turned her face, she couldn’t find a smile that seemed right. She had hated pictures, and every time she saw one of herself, she would hide or dispose of it. 

Until the day she met him. His was right. His was perfect. In that moment she knew what she had to do. She could still remember the way her mother cooed and cried when Sayori brought that smile home. Maybe it was that moment that led her down this path of pain. 

It had snowballed from there, until the two would look like twins walking down the street. She copied everything he did, right down to his jokes. And somewhere along that slippery slope, he had caught her heart. Unfortunately, that was not a sentiment they shared, and nor was it one he seemed interested in copying himself.

When he moved away, she had tried for so long to get him out of her mind. But no matter what, she still saw him in the mirror every morning. In every picture she saw him. In every single reflection in the windows she passed she saw him. He wouldn’t get out of her head. There was no hiding the sun, but she could eclipse him for some time. 

That eclipse lasted for years. Several lonely, painful years until she decided she couldn’t take it any longer. The eclipse wavered, and the full sunburn hit her all over again, but she didn’t hesitate to meet it. She had put her heart on the line with that club invitation. It was her last chance to bring that radiance back into her life. Those hours might have been the most painful of her life. She waited in that heat; struggling to sit still among the roaring inferno that was love. It burned so brightly, but it was no use. Every fire dies out with enough time. And that one lasted for exactly two hours, forty-eight minutes, and thirty-two seconds. 

He slipped around the corner, and with that, she was back in darkness. She stopped in her tracks. The street was silent for several minutes. The sound of leaves being gently swept away by the chilly autumn wind was the only sound she could hear. She slowly lifted the sleeve of her blazer to her face. With slow precision, she unbuttoned, then rebuttoned her blazer. She flattened down her hair. From her bag, she retrieved a stick of gum to chew on. It wasn’t much, but it helped. She moved forward with a stalwart determination. She practically stomped forward. Crushing the dirt beneath her feet as she accelerated further and further. Sayori didn’t even realize it until she was sprinting. 

In no time at all, she had passed him. She vowed to herself to not even give him a passing glance. He didn’t deserve it. That didn’t stop her from throwing a quick look over her shoulder. For only a second she saw his face. That smile wasn’t there, it had been replaced by a look of confusion and distaste. She took a moment to laugh at herself as she kept moving. What a fool’s game she was playing. The school came into view. She had made it on time after all.

&&&&&

Natsu awoke with a grunt. The barbarian sat up to survey the dingy room around her. Before she could do any of that, reflexively, she swatted away a stray mouse that had been nibbling on her boot. The place was a dump. The bed was too small for them to share, even if Natsu hadn’t adamantly insisted she needed it to herself. Laverna had sat herself down in a rocking chair in the corner of the room with a blanket over her lap, and Sunflower had curled up on a rug by the soot-coated fireplace. They looked like an old dog and an even older grandma. Natsu chuckled to herself at the thought of that. She rose from the rickety bed with a grunt, gathering her things and gathering her companions. 

“And I got a crick in my neck because the mattress felt like it was stuffed with rocks!” Natsu belted out as she descended the stairs with her compatriots. The two girls looked worse for wear. Laverna had circles around her eyes so dark that she imitated a racoon. And Sunflower couldn’t stop yawning long enough to finish a sentence. Natsu’s complaints fell on deaf ears. 

However, the innkeeper’s ears did prick up as he heard the trio descend the stairs.   
“Ah, good morning, ladies! A fine how-do-you-do to all of you today!” His chipper outburst gave all three of the girls pause.   
“What do you want?” Natsu practically spat the words at him.   
“Oh, my, nothing more than to serve you, who brought me such a lovely gift!” Arithmetic practically circled Natsu’s sleepy head as she tried to work out what had happened the day before.   
“Wait...the--the badger?”   
“You jest,” Laverna cut in.   
“Oh, not at all! Look!” The innkeeper held up his hand to reveal a gorgeous ring of gold with a ruby the size of a walnut. The girls practically spilled over each other to get a look at it.   
“You gave him that!?” Sunflower found this shock enough to break her out of her yawning spell.   
“What? No! I didn’t!” Natsu defended herself. 

“Ah, but you did!” He coughed. “Well, maybe not entirely intentionally,” he said with one breath, “but when I was hacking that magnificent creature up for a stew, in its belly I found this wonderful prize! Along with a man’s finger, but those are small details. Nonetheless, I thank you endlessly!” He bowed. “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Finsworth, Heinz Finsworth, at your service, and you are welcome in my inn anytime! And please, try the stew!” 

This entire situation settled strangely on Natsu’s tongue. It was a bubbling mix of confusion, regret, pride, and what she assumed to be gratitude boiling inside of her. She decided to abandon those complex feelings and stick to the simpler ones. Like satisfying her hunger, for one. With a wave of the hand, she was able to have a bowl of stew summoned to her, and accidentally for the two with her. Badger had a strange taste: kind of like ham.   
After a breakfast full of complaints and awkward conversation with the overexcited Finsworth, the girls emerged from the belly of the filthy inn to explore the town. Not more than twenty seconds after leaving the inn, Sunflower was narrowly missed by a carriage racing by, carrying milk drums and other foods that were quick to spoil.   
“At least the man has a sense of haste,” Laverna commented. After a short bit of walking, all three paused. They took a look around themselves, then shared a confused glance.   
“Uh...what do we do now?”   
“Um, well, I suppose we should…” 

&&&&&

Yuri bit her lip and raised her eyes to the ceiling. Natsuki stared at Monika with raised eyebrows. Sayori looked equally lost.   
“Well?” Natsuki questioned.   
“Uh...I mean…” Monika hadn’t had an answer for this question prepared. “You adventure!”   
“But how do we do that?” Sayori leaned forward. Yuri looked as if she wanted to answer, but couldn’t quite catch all the words she needed. Monika scratched her chin. While planning all these incredible adventures and ideas, she hadn’t thought about the basics.

How could she kickstart this adventure in the first place? Such a gleaming oversight made a heat flush through her cheeks. A pause lasting several minutes was induced. When it hit Monika, she shot straight up out of her chair.   
“Okay, so this is what you see.” 

&&&&&

Almost like magic, a building across the street came into view. Somehow the girls had not noticed it upon exit, but it was right there the entire time. A young girl stood outside with a copper bell in her hand, swinging and shaking it to get the attention of all who passed.   
“Quests! Jobs! Missions! Work for all, pay for all! Good pay for good work!”   
“Ah, you’ve caught my attention,” Natsu said to herself as she approached the young girl.   
“I wonder what they have that needs done.”   
“Can we do a fun one?” The trio of girls approached the young crier. She was a girl halfway through her teens, yet she was still taller than Natsu by a head. A pair of spectacles were the most catching feature on her small, sheepish face. Her large eyes shone with excitement when the party approached. She momentarily stopped ringing her bell. 

“Hello, travelers! Have you come for work?” Before Natsu could speak up, Laverna cut in.   
“It depends on the work.”   
“Do you have any work with animals?” Sunflower popped up behind the two.   
“Uh...I think farmer Redbowl has some work.” The girl took a step back, begging for some air from this invasive party. “Just head inside and you’ll be given the spread.” She gestured towards the large dark oak door that stood at about twice Natsu’s height. 

“Hm, nice door. Good craftsmanship,” Sunflower commented as the three passed through, causing the hinges to squawk in a high-pitched whine. Inside was a rather quaint setup. On the far side, the entire face of the wall had been turned into a quest board, with papers and documents pinned from floor to ceiling. At a cursory glance, it seemed the quests were organized by importance in relation to proximity to the middle. In the direct center of the board was tacked a paper with gilded edges and adorned with fine, almost ornamental handwriting. Laverna wasted no time in examining it with euphoria. 

The walls were quite modestly decorated with what few trophies the guild could boast. A few weapons were hung on the wall, in a corner, a tarnished suit of armor stood vigilant, and the mounted heads of some strange beasts loomed over the door frames. Upon closer inspection, Sunflower noticed that most of those trophies had belonged to now deceased adventurers. She gulped, then scurried back to join her party. 

There was a decently long hallway between the board and the door, and in that hall were several long tables. On a busier day, many would flock here and wait their turn for quests. Some would eat and even sleep at these tables while waiting. The girls had a hard time believing it at the moment, but this was a very important and very busy location for the town of Woodrot.

Across the long wood floor, a desk sat beside the staircase. A locked door hid wonders of all kinds in the background, but other than that, it was a rather plain little work station. A large, rather prickly-looking man with long hair covered by a hat embellished with the feathers of several beasts sat with his feet up. His desk was a mess of papers and partially-drained bottles. It seemed like he had given up halfway through both. The stubble of his beard coated his jaw like a fine powder. His hooked nose was slightly crooked, giving tell of a tale of either battle or drunken misconduct. Overall, he had the look of an adventurer, but one whose glory years were now drowning behind him.  
He came to attention when he finally noticed his guests.

“What can I do fer ya?” he spoke in low tones, even more gravelly than Natsu’s. Something resting in his cheek slightly slurred his words. Laverna, who had been caressing the fine parchment tacked on the center of the board, turned to face the man.   
“Oh, we were looking for work. Uh, quests?”   
“Jobs?”   
“Missions.”   
“Welp, you came to the right spot. Though you’ll find the good work is already took.” He gestured with a gloved hand to the bald spots around the center of the board. “We post every week. Startin’ on Monday.” The girls paused, almost as if they were asking an outside force what day it is.   
“Oh, yeah, it’s Thursday,”   
“Yep, you’ll see that the best stuff is already gone, but feel free to look through the scraps and see if ya can’t find something decent. If ya have any questions, please ask everybody but me first.” Without another word, the man at the desk put his feet back up, tipped his hat down, and in a few minutes, he was snoozing away.

The girls huddled around the large board, and began picking and nitpicking quests.   
“Hm, how do you feel about turtles?” Laverna asked the party.   
“Adorable!”   
“Too bitey.” Laverna didn’t even have to turn from the board to know their answers, she just went ahead and struck it from the list.   
“Hm...repairing a fence?” Laverna said, her voice barely rising to the occasion.   
“Eh…” Sunflower said through the side of her mouth. Another nope.   
“Oh, hey, this one! Go hunt down the Winter Wolf!” Natsu poked the parchment with a stubby, dwarven finger.   
“Are you insane?” Laverna cut in with genuine shock. “Look at the quest rating!”

While things may have seemed confusing and disorganized form the outside, the guild ran a decent business. Folks from all cuts of cloth would bring in their requests, have them appraised, revised, and approved, and once a reward was agreed upon, their request would be tacked up onto the board until it was taken or it expired. At the top of the page was always the name of the quest giver, their request, and the rating for danger and difficulty. The guild followed a 10-star system. This quest ranked astronomically high with 7 stars. Which was more than enough for the novice adventuring party to turn away from. But not without complaint from Natsu. 

A few moments of board browsing passed by without conversation until Sunflower finally broke the silence, as she was wont to do.   
“Ooh, I love this one!”   
“No, we’re not gonna do that,” Natsu shook her head.  
“Whaaat? Why not?” Sunflower whined.   
“I’m not chasing a cat around all day. I’ve got better things to do.”   
“Such as?” Laverna cut in. Natsu stood dumbfounded for a few moments. When she sighed, Sunflower knew she had won. 

Natsu slid through the mud at full speed before coming to a stop at the base of a tree.   
“Almost had it!” She punched the dirt. As the dwarf stood, her half-elf and tiefling companion came into view, looking equally as filthy.   
“He’s quick,” Sunflower laughed.  
“Too quick,” Laverna said. The trio watched the cat leap his way up the tree with absolute grace and speed.   
“Alright, that’s it.” Natsu pulled her sword from its scabbard. Even now, it looked ridiculously large for somebody of her stature. She lined up her swing like a golf player getting ready to sink a hole in one. The sword went over her shoulder, and began its descent with a “whoosh”.  
“Hold it!” Sunflower jumped in front of the sword’s path. Natsu pulled her swing back just as Sunflower ducked the blade, allowing it to harmlessly bounce against the tree, creating a small sliver in the bark. The dwarf dropped the blade and rushed forward, huffing like a bull.  
“I. Could. Have. Killed you!” Natsu shouted as she shook the curly-haired tiefling by the shoulders. “What is wrong with you!” When Laverna finally pulled Natsu off of Sunflower long enough for her to explain, she was practically foaming at the mouth. 

“You might hurt the kitty if you cut the tree down! One of us should just climb up there and get him!”   
“If he gets hurt, that’s his fault for climbing up a tree! Also, don’t like...cats always land on their feet or something?”   
“That may be true, but I don’t think that law applies if a tree falls on top of them,” Laverna poked the air as she spoke. Natsu rolled her eyes and sheathed her enormous sword.   
“Fine, go for it. But you can count me out. I don’t do heights.” Laverna held her short comments to herself. They didn’t need any more violence from Natsu at this delicate stage. This was up to Laverna and Sunflower. 

“Okay, so who should climb it?” Sunflower pondered.   
“If I’m being honest, I’m not exactly...the strongest climber.” Laverna massaged her rather miniscule biceps.   
“I think I’m in the same boat there.” Sunflower held up her arm and tried to make a muscle, only to make a small ripple under her smooth skin. Natsu coughed, drawing the attention of both girls. She was stretching, and flexing her impressive muscles all over. The way they bulged against her hide clothes gave Laverna a strange tongue-twistedness.   
“Hm? What?” Natsu asked, innocent as could be. “You guys need something? No? Oh, okay.” She turned, still flexing. Laverna shook her head.   
“There’s no use sitting around thinking about it. Let’s give it the old college try, right?” Laverna swung her arm forward with a thumbs up, looking like one of those unsettling 1950’s posters. 

The half-elf cracked her knuckles, then began her climb. Her delicate, pale hands clamped onto each sturdy branch she could find. It wasn’t long before she was about five feet above the ground.  
“See? This isn’t so hard!” she said, her voice shaking with effort.   
“Woo! You can do it!” Laverna nodded and continued on, stepping on branch after branch until she came to the halfway point of the tree. The cat was in sight, resting on the top branch of the tree, licking his paws and staring down at her with that condescending attitude only a cat could muster.   
“Here, kitty! Pspsps!” Laverna continued climbing until she placed her foot onto a branch with a large crack in it. It gave way immediately, and she began freefalling with a scream. The ground was hurling towards her at alarming speed. As she was falling, a sturdy looking branch came into view.  
“Catch it! Catch it! Catch it!” Sunflower called from the ground. 

And with one swift motion, Laverna did catch it, and even brought the branch with her. It wasn’t as sturdy as it looked. That was the last thought she had before she hit the ground with a painful thud. The world above her spun in a slow circle, and the cat only looked more arrogant from further down. Sunflower came into view over her.   
“You didn’t catch it.” Laverna groaned as she sat up, rubbing her lower back. Natsu’s laughter served as background noise.   
“Yes, thank you, Sunflower, I am aware.” Laverna limped her way over to a log and sat down, trying to recover both her physical state, and emotional one, which Natsu was currently hacking away at with each guffaw. Laverna averted her eyes as the heat of humiliation washed over her.

“Well, I guess it's my turn!” Sunflower’s cheery disposition never dampened.   
“Be careful! Laverna called out as the tiefling faced the tree.   
“Or don’t. It’ll be hilarious!” Natsu called out in similar, less helpful fashion. Sunflower did a quick bout of stretches before she began her climb, and in no time at all, she was practically tossing herself up through the branches. Her light, bouncy frame leapt higher and higher through the branches until she reached the spot Laverna had.   
“Well, she might actually make it,” Natsu commented, jinxing Sunflower terribly. 

The tiefling looked like a shooting star as she completely missed her next leap, soaring right between the space of the two branches, and falling in a straight arc to the ground. Laverna stood to try and catch her, but it was far too late. All she was able to do was approach her as she babbled incoherently on the ground.   
“So, you didn’t catch it, either,” Laverna couldn’t help herself. Natsu said no words, only continuous, roaring laughter, and the occasional slapping of her thigh. The half-elf offered the dazed tiefling a hand. 

The two reconvened at the base of the tree once they had gotten their bearings back. Laverna now sported a bruise the size of a tomato on her backside, and Sunflower a knot on the back of her head that was about the size of her fist. They had maybe two more attempts left in them before calling it quits. 

The two stood muttering and whispering to each other for enough time for Natsu’s laughter to finally die down as she looked for another way to entertain herself. She dropped the leather bag she carried at her feet, and began rifling through it. After discarding a few items she had forgotten she even had, Natsu produced what she was looking for: a pan flute. She let loose a string of coughs loud enough to echo across the empty fields. She also caught the attention of the other girls.   
“I call this one Two Dummies Climb A Tree.” And before Laverna could retort, Natsu began playing a melody on her pipes. 

It was strangely beautiful to be so mocking. Neither Laverna nor Sunflower could deny that Natsu genuinely had talent at something other than hitting things and being sarcastic. The half-elf even tried to gift her a compliment, but her velvety voice was unable to pierce the high-pitched tones that were echoing across the fields.   
“She’s no bard, but she’s got potential!” Sunflower beamed.   
“I...I have to agree.” A smile played at the corners of Laverna’s mouth as she watched Natsu envelop herself in this tune. Two realizations struck her at once. The first being that Natsu would never open herself up honestly. This was her being honest. She was extending herself, but she wouldn’t do it without being guarded. Suddenly, Laverna felt she understood Natsu a little better, and Yuri felt she understood Natsuki a lot better. 

The second realization was a lot more relevant to the situation.   
“We’ve been doing this all wrong!” Laverna said.   
“You’re not gonna cut the tree down, are you?” Sunflower took a step toward the tree defensively.   
“No. What I mean is that we’re doing this wrong. We’re using the wrong skills!”   
“I don’t follow.”   
“Just take after me.” 

Sunflower stood at the base of the tree with her hands cupped together. She watched as Laverna sprinted down the field toward her. It was strangely terrifying, but she would hold nonetheless. The half-elf’s thin frame was able to pick up quite a bit of speed in such a short time, and when she finally got to Sunflower, it took all she had to not bumble the next move. 

Laverna’s foot found Sunflower’s cupped hand, and with one smooth motion, Sunflower tossed her into the air as Laverna performed a flip that rocketed her halfway up the tree. Sunflower hollered and cheered for the half-elf, and the sound of Natsu’s pipes stopping abruptly only encouraged her more. Without losing any momentum, she flipped once more, but this time backwards. She soared between the gaps in the branches, finding a foothold on a thick, sturdy branch. With one more good jump, she found herself face to face with the dreaded rescue victim. The cat immediately raised up on its hind legs and hissed at the girl. Laverna slowly reached into her pocket, bringing back a small piece of salted meat. She gave a glance at the ground and nodded. 

And now it was up to Sunflower. With her lute firmly in her grasp, the tiefling began belting a tune of her own. Her melodic voice pierced the thick canopy of orange leaves, rising higher and higher until its magical effects finally reached their target. Her voice served as a tranquilizer. The cat lowered itself calmly, and a big smile crossed his furry face. It was at this point he happily took the morsel of food from Laverna, and allowed her to cradle him in her arms. Sunflower could barely contain her excitement as she watched Laverna begin her slow descent. 

“Itty bitty kitty!” Sunflower cooed as she rubbed the cat’s belly. The cat’s purring was more than enough invitation for her to continue.   
“Oh, thank you, dearies.” An old, paper-thin voice said. The girls found themselves back in the guild hall. Sunflower had kept Patches, the cat, busy the entire walk back, and was still continuing to do so as Laverna and Natsu finished up their business. Ms. Withersbee, their employer, was a woman just a decade shy of a century, and she shook with each movement, even with a cane supporting her.   
“I do hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”   
“Oh, none at all, ma’am,” Laverna said. Natsu began to open her mouth, but Laverna planted a firm foot on top of her less subtle companion’s. It shut her up for a moment. 

“Well, you dearies earned it, although it’s not much. Here you are.” The ancient woman held out a small pouch that jingled with each shake of her hand. Laverna politely took it before it made any more ruckus, and thanked her dearly. “Come along now, Patches. And don’t you be running off again, alright? Mama can’t afford this every week.” The cat came bounding to his master’s side, leaving Sunflower in desperate need of something else to pet. She began rooting through her bag. 

Laverna felt a warm feeling come over her. As she watched that elderly woman slowly make her way out the door, it became clear to her that she could have never done what they had today. They brought that woman so much joy, and did something that only they were able to that day. This was the nature of a good deed, this was the nature of adventuring. To help those in need by being the ones that can and will perform. Laverna felt incredible in that moment. She felt the need to share that feeling. 

“Natsu, I just wanted to say--”   
“Geez, is this really all we got?” Natsu dumped the coins onto a table and counted them. “Ten gold, five silver, what is this...eight copper. Eh, I mean decent, I guess.” Laverna sighed and shook her head as she and Sunflower took a seat across from Natsu.   
“Okay so that’s like...three gold each...and then the silver...I uh--is that a dead mouse?” Natsu looked up from her accounting to see Sunflower caressing Jack.   
“No, he’s petrified!”  
“That’s disgusting.”   
“He’s adorable, shush!” Laverna couldn’t help but laugh. This was her party. 

&&&&&  
Natsuki pantomimed trying to snatch the imaginary mouse from Sayori’s hand. The jovial girl turned her entire body away from her, holding the imaginary rodent close to her chest for safe keeping. Both were so in the moment that you’d think it was all real. Monika watched on with a grin. She was more than happy to let the two have their moment. Yuri smiled as well. Yes, this was her party, and these were her friends.


	5. The First of Many

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri struggles with confidence and confidence. This fantasy world is more than just a game to her, and she'll do anything she can to help it. The party meets a new, strange companion, and learn of the terrible state of Woodrot. There is more danger and more adventure to be had in their future, as long as they can make it through this fight.

Yuri awoke to the subdued, steady beeping of her alarm clock. Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly deactivated the device. She rolled her neck, forcing a couple cracks and pops out of it as she stood from her plush, lavender-colored bed. It was large enough for three of her, yet somehow she always found a way to nearly roll off of it every night. 

She wasted no time in getting herself ready for the day. Every few minutes she would toss a nervous glance at her alarm clock. She had nearly two entire hours to prepare herself, but all she could do was think about the minutes. How many minutes would it take her to shower, how many minutes would it take her to dress, how many minutes would it take her to eat? What about the walk to school? What if she came into an obstacle along the way? Yuri always tried to be at least ten minutes early to anything. Sometimes she was early to being early, and had to meander about, trying not to look awkward as she waited for a time to come where it wouldn’t be too early for her to show up.

Even now, as Yuri pulled her blazer on and readied her bag for the day, she stared at the clock to see she had another hour before she even remotely needed to set out. She sighed and sat her bag down on her gargantuan bed. Her bag unzipped slowly as she retrieved her binder. It was an unassuming thing. Black, with no special adornments to show that it was any different from her ordinary school materials. However, when she cracked it open, it displayed a wondrous spread of fantasy paraphernalia. Immediately upon opening, she was greeted with a painstakingly detailed drawing of her character. 

On the other side, her sheet itself. It was just some numbers and some meaningless sentences to anybody on the street, but that sheet was everything to her. It was a portal to another world. A gateway into joy and friendship. Without it...she had nothing. Yuri gingerly removed both sheets of paper and traced them with her finger lovingly. Behind her character sheets were some standard notebook papers with various notes on them, but she didn’t particularly feel like reviewing her notes at that time. 

Instead, she closed her binder and used it to continue her drawing. She had been working on this drawing for days now. Since the moment Laverna had become even an idea in her head, she felt the need to make her real, to make her tangible. And she was more than ecstatic at the idea of showing the girls her drawing. At least, in theory. In reality, the idea terrified her. What if they didn’t like it? What if they said they had seen better? Yuri bit her lip as she tried to push those thoughts away. 

Her delicate hands filled in the shadows of Laverna’s face. She couldn’t help but realize the similarities between herself and her character. Had she meant to do that? Or was it merely a coincidence? At first, she thought less of Natsuki for basically making a copy of herself in their game, but as the sessions drew on, she couldn’t help but see the similarities between all of them. It was then that she actually began to admire Natsuki’s decision. She had the bravery it took to quite literally put herself out there. She didn’t flinch away from anything, and she hid nothing. How could somebody be so brave? 

Yuri found her hand coming to a slow stop as she continued to think of Natsuki. She was such a tiny, ferocious creature, but Yuri knew there was a sweeter side to her. And deep down, Yuri knew she wanted nothing more than to see that side of her. She wanted to get past her walls, she wanted to get close to her. She wanted to get close to all of them. But how could she? That wall seemed impervious to her. 

And then it hit her. Inspiration and determination swelled within her as she dug through her bag once more to find her sketchbook. She flipped past several dozen drawings of various images and silhouettes to find an empty bit of real estate in the large black book. Her hand began moving quicker than it ever had before as she worked. A smile worked its way across her pale cheeks as her hands worked themselves into a frenzy. A curve here, a dash there, there was so much to do, but Yuri was determined. 

Before she realized it, her wait for school was nearly over. When she finally put the pencil down, she found her hand had a stiff cramp in it. With her other hand, she cradled it gently and laughed. It had been quite some time since she had felt such inspiration, and she was more than excited to continue her work. 

Even with her distraction, Yuri still made it to school on time, as she always did. It was about halfway through the day at this point. She had used every bit of free time she had to slap her sketchbook onto her desk and continue her work, even if it was only for a few brief moments. The teachers had given her several strange looks when she caught their eyes, but Yuri didn’t mind. Not today, at least. 

She passed through the halls with a sense of determination. For every second she was early, she had more time to work. She wanted to finish her work before today’s session, but there was simply no time. She wouldn’t want to show them anything that wasn’t completely up to her standards. 

Almost as if simply thinking about her friends could summon them, Sayori and Natsuki appeared down the opposite end of the hall from her. It surprised Yuri to see them together. Outside of the club, she had only ever seen the girls apart, save when they had to meet for whatever reason.   
But the girls didn’t look like they were sharing anything important. Natsuki rolled her eyes and elbowed Sayori, who broke into a laughing fit. No, they were simply talking...like friends do. Yuri felt a hollowness in her gut. Her door was coming up, but they were still so far away. Did she stop and wait for them? Go to them? What if they didn’t want her to be part of their conversation? What if she ruined the rest of the day? Yuri could feel her pulse racing as the safety of her door came into view. She clamped a hand onto the doorframe like it was a safety rail. 

And then it happened. All her fears melted away as Sayori simply waved to her, with a big grin on her face. Natsuki gave a much smaller, more casual wave. With a shaky hand, Yuri waved back, turning to face them. She decided she wouldn’t run from it. She’d stand her ground. She reassured herself as they approached. The shy girl released her grip on the doorframe and took a step towards them. 

“Yo,” Natsuki greeted her. 

“Yuri, we’ve got a question.” Yuri felt a pang of nervousness shoot through her. Had she made a mistake joining? 

“I mean, not really, but go for it.” Natsuki shrugged. 

“So, you go to like...a food truck or something, okay?” 

“Or a stall.” 

“Yeah, like a vendor stall. Okay, so if you go to one, and there’s a line, like a really long one, is it okay for you to go to somebody in the line and give them money to buy your food so you don’t have to wait in line?” Natsuki didn’t wait for a reply to cut in. 

“No! Because they still have to make your food. It’s the same amount of time, just without you waiting.” 

“But like you said it’s the same amount of time!” 

“Yeah, but everybody else had to wait! They earned it...I guess.” A blush appeared on Natsuki’s cheeks as she became more heated. 

“What do you think, Yuri?” Sayori and Natsuki turned to her, and the taller girl couldn’t help but give a chuckle. Yes, these were her friends without a doubt. 

The surprisingly heated conversation continued on for several minutes, drawing the attention of several passersby and a couple teachers. Eventually, the bell split them, but Natsuki proclaimed that this conversation was far from over. And that thought made Yuri overjoyed. 

The few hours left of her school day felt like an eternity to her. Her leg was bouncing like a piston as she waited for the final bell. She had been able to get some solid work done, but now all she could think about was the upcoming session. What would they do today? What challenges awaited them? Puzzles, combat, roleplay? She couldn’t wait any longer. The bell was a starting gun for her as she rushed past all the other students. 

Truth be told, her long legs didn’t require her to do much to pass the sluggish pace of the others. When Yuri wanted to, she could be quicker than most, and this was why she had a strong lead on the horde of tired students behind her. She kept her eyes to the floor, as to not make eye contact with those she passed. Normally, a feeling of anxiety would be gnawing away at her, but instead joy took its place. She imagined herself as Laverna, and these halls were here forest. The neat tiles beneath her feet were tangles of underbrush, the pillars were mighty oaks, and the scowling students were her fellow woodland dwellers. She lifted her head with a smile as she continued onward to adventure. 

&&&&

Laverna strode into the guild hall with an air of confidence.   
“Good morning!” she called out. Inside, her two companions were already looking over the quest board. Natsu slapped away Sunflower’s hand as she reached for a particularly frilly looking note. The young girl with the copper bell was conversing with the desk attendant, who looked as if he could fall asleep at any minute. It was all a familiar scene except for a stranger sitting on the end of a bench. 

He was a tall, lanky man wearing a leather helmet that barely contained the straws of hay that were his hair. The rest of his body was also covered in similar light armor, but parts of it had been torn away or pierced. He had a pointed, long face with a nose like a hawk’s beak. He wasn’t doing much but sitting around and glaring into the drink in his hand. This man piqued Laverna’s curiosity. She approached the lad, startling him and nearly causing him to spill the frothy ale he had been staring into.  
“Ah! Don’t ya know not to sneak up on people?” he cried out in a high-pitched voice that reminded her quite a bit of a weasel. At a closer look, he couldn’t have been much older than 20. A light peach fuzz carpeted his cheeks and chin--obviously a desperate attempt at growing a beard.   
“My apologies,” she said. “I merely wanted to inquire as to why you were looking so...anxious.” The young man settled back into his seat. 

“Oh. That.” Without another word, the man slipped a note onto the table. It was a crumpled quest posting. Immediately the danger level caught Laverna’s eye; it was 3 stars. 

“Oh, my. You took this on by yourself?” She lifted the crumpled note gingerly, noticing that it had a few drops of blood smeared across it. Casually, she threw a glance over at her new acquaintance to notice he had several fresh cuts and bruises. No comment was made, however, and Laverna continued to read the note. It read as so:

***  
Mr. Jamison  
Them trees are movin’ again. Anybody gonna step up and do somethin’? Or are we all just on board with livin’ in the shrubs? Go in them woods and kill these damn trees before they take root in Woodrot!

Below that was a rough sketch of the enemy the note described. Laverna wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be though. It looked like a tree-human hybrid, with somewhat of a face. It had no mouth, nor eyes, but had indents and holes where both of those would be. Its face looked somewhat like a mask. It was a bit shorter than she was, from what she could tell, and its body didn’t look to have muscles, but vines and twigs where they would have been. Under the sketch, the name “Blight” was written. Whatever it was, it was unsettling. 

“Who is Mr. Jamison?” she asked. 

“That’d be me, girly.” The man in the feathered hat lifted his head just long enough to answer before dropping it back down. 

“What is this about trees taking the town?” Laverna shook the note above her head, but it was not enough to regain Mr. Jamison’s attention. She turned to the boy next to her for answers, but he looked just as eager to talk. He sunk down into his ale. 

“Go ask Clarissa. She’ll give ya the details.” Laverna inferred that Clarissa was the girl with the bell and spectacles. As she crossed the hall, her companions joined her. 

“What was that about trees?” Natsu bluntly inquired. 

“I’m not entirely sure. Excuse me, Clarissa, dear? Could you tell me more about this...quest?” 

“Job,” Natsu cut in.

“Mission!” Sunflower hollered with a grin. The mousy girl took her eyes to the floor for a moment. 

“Oh, that. You’re new, so you don’t really know about the problem, huh?” All three girls shook their heads. “We’ve got a big problem. Us and every other town in the region.” She leaned against the desk. “They call her The Witch of the Woods, and she’s out to destroy every town in the area.” Natsu whistled. 

“Sounds rough.” Laverna popped her on the shoulder. 

“It’s been an ongoing fight for about a year now. Nobody’s really sure what caused her wrath, but we’ve all suffered from it. She’s cut every town off from one another. She’s taken over the roads with her overgrowth, and beasts patrol the woods, attacking anybody foolish enough to wander too far. We’ve had nothing to do but sit and wait for the tree line to take us over. And it sounds like that won’t be too much longer.” 

She threw a glance at the boy. “Tommy did his best, but he just wasn’t equipped to handle what was thrown at him. None of us are. Unfortunately, you’re looking at the best warrior this town’s got.” She stepped away to show Mr. Jamison in all his drunken glory. 

“Oh, you guys are screwed.” Laverna popped Natsu once again, harder this time. That comment was nearly enough to make Clarissa shed a tear. Her voice became husky with emotion. 

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do. Everybody’s too scared to go out and fight her, and every day she moves her plans further.” 

“So, why don’t we go and help?” Sunflower’s optimism lit up the room, as it always did. Both Laverna and Natsu gave her a look that was somewhere between pride and concern. 

“You would? You’d help us out? Honest?” Clarissa practically leapt forward to take Sunflower’s hands in her own. 

“Sure! Why not? Right, guys?” She beamed a smile bright enough to blind a man, and unfortunately, bright enough to make her compatriots agree reluctantly. 

“Oh, thank you, thank you! You have no idea what this means to me! To us! Hang on, where’s that note?” Clarissa began scouting the area. 

“I gave it back to Tommy,” Laverna provided. Clarissa nodded and crossed back over to the tables where Tommy was brooding. The note was still clutched in his hand. 

“Tommy, can I just get that from you?” She leaned forward and took hold of the note, but found that it wasn’t so easy to retrieve it. “Tommy? Let go.” 

“No,” he replied, his lips set in a straight line. His other hand curled into a fist. “I’m not giving up!” He stood suddenly, nearly causing his drink to slosh onto the floor. His fiery eyes met Clarissa’s and the two stood in silence for a few moments. A beautiful shade of red was painted across both of their cheeks. 

“Somebody’s got a cruuuush,” Sunflower sung quietly to herself. Laverna also popped her on the shoulder, but gently. 

“I mean...I don’t wanna give up. I’m gonna try again, okay?” Tommy’s grip loosened, as did his face. Clarissa nodded, quietly mumbling. 

“Hey, ya don’t gotta give up, ya know?” Natsu piped up. The two at the table turned to face the dwarf. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean it seems like we’ve all got something to gain here. We go on this quest, get some loot, and you get to redeem yourself.” Laverna popped her on the shoulder. “And ya know, some loot for you too.” 

“You wanna work together? As a team?” Natsu hesitated, then immediately cut in.

“Let’s not be hasty with the labeling. Team is a strong word. Let’s go with...alliance.” 

“Right. Right. I’m honored to be parta this alliance!” The boy stood and put a fist to his chest, looking almost somewhat like a knight. “And thank you, all of you, for giving me another chance...especially you, Clarissa.” Their eyes met once more. “I won’t let ya down,” he said softly, causing Sunflower to squeal into her hands. 

“It’s so cute,” she whispered in Laverna’s ear so closely she felt like the tiefling’s words had touched her brain.

The party wasted little time in gathering what meager equipment they had in preparation for this mission. As they walked through the muddy streets, Sunflower and Natsu’s voices bounced off the dilapidated wooden buildings that loomed over them. 

“Potions?” 

“Nope.” 

“Backup plan?”

“Not a one!” 

“Entertainment?” 

“I got that covered!” Sunflower began playing a wonderfully upbeat tune as they trudged to the edge of the town. 

“You’re not casting a spell, are you?” Laverna asked, a touch of worry across her brows. 

“Not unless that spell is called ‘cheer up my friends’ then no!”

“It’s a lovely song,” Tommy said politely.

“Wait till the end. It’s a real knock out,” Natsu took the lead of the group. 

“I said I was sorry!” Sunflower cried, pumping her slender legs as fast as they could to catch up to the stomping Natsu. That left Tommy and Laverna trailing at the back of the group. 

“Y’all are some pretty interesting folk.” Laverna sighed and smiled. 

“Interesting is what we do best, I suppose.” The half-elf sped her own pace up, leaving the boy behind as well.   
“Wait, you don’t know where you’re goin’!” Tommy yelled, then began sprinting up the hill.

Eventually, the party reconvened. Tommy lead them through the last of the town, and into the looming woods. Back through the path they had once came. Tommy was currently stepping into a clearing.   
“Hold up. The ground’s been disturbed here. Somebody must’ve been fightin’.” Laverna’s ears went red as she shared a glance with the other two girls. Tommy continued his investigation. “It must have been at least a few days ago. I see lots of footprints and skids in the mud here.” 

“Oh, well, maybe we should get going then,” Sunflower piped up, but was ignored. 

“It looks like...there! The bushes have a divide in ‘em. Hm, there’s a dead goblin here! I wonder what could have happened here? I mean, it looks like there’s three sets of footprints, so I can’t really understand why there would be so much scufflin’ over one goblin--” 

“Alright, that’s interesting, time to go!” Natsu ended the investigation as she took off further into the forest. 

“She’s absolutely right, let’s not waste any time, Tommy!” Laverna followed the dwarf. 

“What they said!” Sunflower fell in line. Tommy raised a hand to ask several questions, but as he watched all three of the girls step through a mud puddle, and then recreate the exact same footprints he saw around him, the cogs in his head began spinning at overdrive.

“W-Wait up!” He called, trailing after the party once more. 

The goal wasn’t much further. The four rounded the top of a hill that overlooked a small pond that stood in the shade of a large oak tree. In this clearing were a few other decently sized trees, and a couple tinier ponds, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Okay, so you wanna tell us what’s up?” Natsu whispered, shimmying over to Tommy’s side as the four lay prone on the crest of the hill.

“So, like the note said, the trees have been moving forward...but that’s not quite right. There are these things they call Blights that actually come out of the trees--or, no, they’re hiding in the trees. Look, I’ll show you in a second. Ya see those two?” Tommy pointed to the pond in the center of the clearing. 

“Nope.” 

“Look harder. They’re hiding on the sides of that tree. When we come out, so will they. That’s what happened last time, anyway.” Tommy looked quite sheepish at that moment, but Natsu just looked bored. 

“So, you got beat up by two twigs?”

“It’s more than that! They’re like...magic...twigs.” 

“Alright, I’ve seen enough.” Natsu then stood, dusting herself off and loudly clapping the dirt off her hands as she began casually strolling down the hill. 

“Natsu, wait!” Tommy called, still trying to keep the element of stealth.

“Sorry about that,” Sunflower apologized as she readied herself, then strode down the hill.

“She does this,” Laverna followed in similar fashion, leaving Tommy alone on the hill.

“Alright, come out. I see you.” Natsu drew her enormous greatsword and pointed it toward the oak tree. “Yeah, you two in the wood. Yeah, you can come to me or I can come to you, either way is--” and before she could finish the sentence, two Twig Blights emerged from the side of the large tree. “Ha! See, now all we gotta do is--” and before she could finish that sentence, two more blights of similar nature emerged from two trees near the edge of the clearing. “Hm...okay, well--”

“Please stop talking,” Laverna said, drawing her longbow. 

“Looks like a fight!” Sunflower drew her lute, just as Tommy came sliding down the hill. This was where the fight began. The first step of this intricate dance of combat was taken by one of the blights in the far edge of the clearing. Its body was covered in hundreds of sharp thorns, and as it raised its arm, it became quite clear its method of attack. 

A salvo of those razor-sharp needles descended upon Natsu, whose bravado had quieted down immensely as she put up her arms to shield her face. The missiles tore away at her leathery skin with incredible precision. In no more than a few seconds, both her arms were covered with slick crimson blood. She bit her lip, then turned back to face her party. 

“Ya know, I wouldn’t be against getting some assistance!” 

“On it! On it!” Sunflower called out as she ran forward. She quickly placed her hands on Natsu’s back, and that yellow glow appeared once more, like a sunbeam bouncing off a glass pane. Natsu felt a wave of relief fill her as the many slits in her arms began to scab over and heal before her very eyes. 

“That’s some good stuff!” Natsu called out with a laugh. 

“Let’s not get too dependent on it!” Laverna said as she knocked an arrow. But before she could act, her vision was filled with flailing wooden limbs. Surprisingly quick for a creature of such stiff material, the Twig Blight rushed Laverna as she fumbled with the arrow in hand. 

Slash after slash from these wooden claws missed Laverna as she gracefully ducked and dodged, never letting the arrow in her hand loose. She was on the backfoot, but she wasn’t against the ropes by any means. As she ducked another slash, she finally loosed the arrow directly into the sky, sending it straight above her. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Natsu called out as she witnessed the display before her. Laverna danced and weaved around this creature for several seconds before finally slipping under one more of its attacks, then it hit. The arrow she had loosed struck the creature on the top of the head. 

Laverna stepped back just as the shower of splinters flew her way. The arrow had pierced a tunnel straight from head to toe of the creature, killing it instantly. The wooden monster fell to the ground, as inanimate as the trees it used to disguise itself. A faint clapping from sunflower rang out through the trees, and Laverna couldn’t help but feel proud of herself. 

“Shouldn’t you be using those hands to heal me?” Natsu reminded her.

“Right, sorry! That was just really cool.” Natsu chewed on the thought for a minute, fighting a smile. 

“Alright, yeah, that was pretty rad.” Just as the final word left her mouth, another one of those pointy needles flew past Natsu, just barely missing her upper lip. The other Needle Blight was making his own attack, but as Natsu put her arms up to defend, she found the attack wasn’t aimed at her. 

It was with horror that she realized the attack was aimed at the defenseless Sunflower. When it hit her, the girl was still smiling at her, but that smile quickly turned as a rush of those thorns struck the girl in the chest, immediately causing a pool of blood to form on the center of her shirt. 

It happened so suddenly that the girl hadn’t had time to react, but as she clutched the bleeding wound, she still gave out a weak laugh.   
“At least it’s not a goblin, right?” she struggled to put a smile on her face. Natsu’s vision went red. 

Laverna heard it before she saw it. Natsu’s cry of rage as she sprinted forward, splashing through the pond and stomping through the mud before she leapt into the air with her sword drawn high, and her teeth grit in fury. 

She repaid the damage they had done to her and her friends in kind. With her sword she cleft the creature in twain, leaving its two separate halves to fall to the ground lifelessly. Even in the moment, with all her rage, Natsu still noticed that these creatures had no organs, nor any kind of organic matter. They truly were sticks and vines bonded together. This astute scientific observation would have to wait though, as the other Needle Blight began its rush toward her. She welcomed it with a war cry.

Wood clashed against metal, and splinters of wood fell like rain as Natsu defended against the blows of this lethal creature. Eventually, one of the creature’s overhanded blows caught her sword, and Natsu engaged in a contest of strength with the monster. 

“You’re not that tough! You can’t do shit when I get up in your face!” A mad grin passed over her face as she overpowered this blight. Unfortunately for her, this was the perfect distraction for the second Twig Blight to catch her off guard. 

Seconds before it struck, Natsu kicked the Needle Blight away, then parried the claw of the oncoming monster mere seconds before it struck. Two more blows came her way, but she parried both with ease. The third slipped past her sword, but with one hand she caught the claw inches from her face, holding the panicking creature in a vice-like grip. Natsu grinned. 

Laverna was mesmerized by the display. Whilst she had shown dignity and grace, Natsu had shown unrivaled bravery and raw power. It was beautiful. Different in all regards, but lesser in no way. Like the difference between the majestic beauty of a grizzly bear and the fine craftsmanship of an ornate teacup. Both incredible, but completely different. This fascination caused her to drop her guard for mere moments. 

Unfortunately, a hidden assailant chose to use this opportunity. From a tree directly to Laverna’s right, another blight appeared, leaping forward to strike her. She wasn’t even aware until it had hit her. Its wooden claw raked across her pale cheek, drawing blood immediately. Laverna stumbled back, bow still in hand, but no arrow readied. She cursed herself for being so unprepared. The creature readied itself for another onslaught, but as it rushed forward, it was caught in mid-air by the lip of Tommy’s shield.

With a grunt of effort, Tommy launched the creature five feet back, causing it to sprawl through a mud puddle and slide. 

“Are you okay?” he called out nervously, still trying to uphold his posture and look like a true knight. Laverna gave him a nod, to which he smiled, and then turned to face his opponent. It stood and leered at him with malice. With no mouth, only empty sockets where it seemed eyes should have been, these creatures emitted a strange, unnerving aura. 

Tommy stood his ground as it approached, catching its first blow with his shield. Two more came before he finally countered by using his weight to throw the creature off balance. As it stumbled back, Tommy lifted his club high, and ironically, used a weapon made of the same material to demolish the creature. It fell apart with each blow, but Tommy wasn’t confident in his victory until it was in at least more pieces than he could count with one hand. When he finally finished his battle, he looked to Laverna with a big, dopey grin. 

Natsu was unable to witness his victory as she now battled two opponents at once. A nonstop barrage of claws slashed and prodded at her, leaving her little room for error. The smaller, less intimidating blight had swarmed her, not doing any damage, but distracting her effectively. She hadn’t even noticed the Needle Blight had disappeared until he was already behind her. The next thing she noticed was the sharp pain of wooden claws stabbing into her back.

She gave out a grunt of pain as the creature twisted its claws into her back, just below her shoulder blades. The thin hides and furs that she adorned herself with did little to protect her, and the doeskin shirt she wore quickly became stained with that same crimson she had seen before. 

Her blade caught the Twig Blight’s claw once more, and Natsu was granted a very brief reprieve. She caught her friends in the corner of her eye. Both were bleeding, but both were okay. She felt a feeling gnawing at her guts. Worry? Fear? Anger? She couldn’t be sure, but she knew what she felt when she saw Sunflower, absolutely leaking blood, shakily stand up. The tiefling cupped her hands around her mouth, straightened her back, then leaned forward, absolutely belting her encouragement.

“Hang in there, Natsu!” she called out to her very heart, and Natsu felt something incredible: inspiration. Inspiration to fight on, and to protect those she cared about. She would win this fight, not for herself, but for them. Laverna caught her eye. She was back on the offensive, and had an arrow ready to go. The two met eyes. Natsu nodded, and with no delay, an arrow went shooting past her shoulder.

It struck the blight behind her in the chest, causing it to immediately dislodge its wooden talons from Natsu’s back. Natsu wasted no time in using this advantage to push the blight that she had caught back. With a thick, heavy boot, she launched the creature backwards. It swiped and clawed at her as she did, but it was to no avail. She put her foot on the creature’s chest, and raised her greatsword high. 

She caught Sunflower in her line of sight, who was still cheering for her. With a grin, she drove the blade through the squirming monster’s head, stopping all its movements in one stab. The girl, feeling quite triumphant, was all but ready to call out her victory, but there was still the matter of the final blight. 

It looked more like a pile of scrap wood after the devastating arrow shot, which was still stuck in its chest cavity. But that didn’t stop it from rushing forward and attacking her. What did stop it was coming face-to-face with the steel of Tommy’s shield. The creature had leapt into the air with all its force, and unfortunately for it, Tommy’s unwavering shield was the rock upon which the tides of its body crashed. 

Debris flew all over the place as the creature exploded upon impact, killing itself quite effectively. Tommy stood there the entire time, eyes closed, both hands on his shield, even after the creature had already been slain. 

Natsu gave out a triumphant laugh as she pounded her chest.   
“We won! Our first fight! Haha!” She raised both fists in the air as the party reconvened. Sunflower wasted no time in bringing back that healing glow, but she did put up a fight when the entire party insisted she take care of herself first.

“I’m okay, you guys did all the fighting! Let me heal you first!” 

“Absolutely not. You got sideswiped by those things! Besides, I’ll be fine.” Natsu wiped a small trail of blood from her mouth discreetly.

“Y’all were incredible. I could have never done this on my own,” Tommy said. 

“You’re right.” Natsu’s bluntness incited a five second silence, followed by a minute-long fit of rampant giggling. 

“I can’t wait to return to the guild. This is a small victory, but it will--”

“Small? Did you not see what we just did?” A silence followed. Not like the one before it. It was heavy, pregnant with anxiety and caution. 

“We’re knee-deep in more trouble than we can handle, my friends...but this small win is where it starts. Today the trees, tomorrow the generals!” A look passed through the girls once more. A look of confusion, and then a look of anxiety.

“Who are the generals?” Laverna asked, Sunflower placing her healing hands upon her back. 

“Now that...is a more concerning question.” 

&&&&

Monika looked all around, basking in how enthralled everybody at the table was. Everybody was on the edge of their seats, quite literally. It made this next moment so delicious. 

“Okay, everyone, that’s where we’ll end the session for today.” The table practically exploded. 

“Come on, man! Ya can’t do that!” Natsuki complained. 

“Who are the generals? What does that mean?” Yuri, more animated than she had ever seen her, practically grabbed Monika by the lapels to get the answer. 

“That’s the beauty of suspense. It’ll give you guys something to think about over the weekend.” A beat passed as the rest of the table realized it.

“Oh, yeah...it’s Friday,” Sayori said, sounding more than a little disappointed. 

“Damn, and this was such a good session!” Natsuki said with enthusiasm. 

“Language, missy!” Monika chided, giving her a playful “tsk tsk tsk”.

“I’ve never heard you swear before today, Natsuki,” Yuri said. 

“Yeah, I mean...it’s whatever ya know? Some people don’t like it so, like, I try not to do it until I get to know somebody better. Kinda gauge their response.” 

“So, you’re saying we’re cloooose?” Sayori wrapped her arms around the petite girl and pulled her in for a tight hug. Natsuki gave a very weak defense, but she didn’t pull away. Monika and Yuri, the de facto adults of the group, gave a smile and shook their heads. By the time Natsuki finally pulled away, the sun was beginning to set, basking the club room in the beautiful pinks and oranges of twilight. 

Nobody was too quick to pack up. Everybody had something they wanted to say right before they left, which became a never-ending cycle of “Oh, but before I go, I--”. But who could blame them? 

“I really just can’t wait for Monday,” Sayori said, forcing a laugh.

“I know, right? Like, God, why can’t we just keep going, ya know? Haha.” There was another pregnant pause as the question hung heavy in the air. Monika froze. Her blood ran cold. Was this the time? Did she do it? Should she push that boundary? Should she finally show her hand? 

“Well, why don’t we then?” Monika’s confident voice was the light in the darkness the girls needed. Their expressions switched to absolute joy in a matter of milliseconds. 

“Are you saying--”

“Sleepover!” Sayori called out, giddy as a puppy. Monika felt a blush come over her at the word “sleepover”, but that was what it would be for all intents and purposes.

“Nothing too much. Just hanging out. If--if everybody wants to.” Monika tried to backpedal a bit, but she was already stuck in forward motion. 

“Absolutely!” Sayori cried. 

“It sounds like fun,” Yuri’s soft voice dared to ring out through the joyous shouts of Sayori.

“I mean, it’s not like I’m doing anything else,” Natsuki said, never truly accepting, but going along anyway. “B-But I’ll need to get some stuff from my house before I go.” 

“I thought so. How about we all meet at my place tomorrow? Around 12 sounds good for everybody?” A chorus of agreement replied, although Sayori seemed a bit bummed that she couldn’t follow her home right this instant. “Alright, awesome! I’ll see you all tomorrow, then. I’ve got some planning to do!” And that she did, both in-game and out.

That night, when Monika returned home, she shut the door to her bedroom behind her, and locked it. She sunk down against the door, as she had dozens of times before, but this time, it was not a breakdown. More like an overload. The joy inside her came out as hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She clutched her knees and pulled them close, squirming and squealing with joy. 

She fell onto her side, and she couldn’t help but laugh at herself as she sprawled out on her bedroom floor, staring up at the ceiling with tears dripping onto the carpet. She simply couldn’t contain the joy at the thought of not being alone...even if it was just for a weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as most of you know, this is actual rolling for what goes on in the campaign, and firstly, everybody absolutely crushed it, and secondly, you may notice I tweak here and there for flavor. Yes, a blight can't actually make three attacks, but it can hit with one, which is what matters. As long as the important part is the base, I like to add flavor to the encounter to make it less Swing, miss, swing, repeat. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of true blue combat.


	6. New Levels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monika struggles with the idea of being both a fun host and a solid DM. On top of that, their adventures are beginning to take a new turn into the unexpected. The gears of change will begin grinding soon, but for now, all that grinding has earned the girls their first level up!

Monika had been standing in front of the mirror for nearly an hour at this point. It was a repeating dance of her dressing, checking herself out in the floor-length mirror, shaking her head, then trudging back to the closet to start the cycle anew. She’d gone through nearly half her closet, and nothing seemed to work. 

Her first outfit looked too formal, yet the second looked too relaxed. The third looked like she was trying too hard, while the fourth was just hideous. She didn’t want to look like she was trying to show anybody up, but at the same time, she didn’t want to make it seem like she was a lazy slob. 

Monika was about at the point of tearing her hair out as she tossed a pair of shorts and a tank top onto her bed. She sat down and took a deep breath.   
“It’s okay. It doesn’t even matter,” she said to herself. “Not even a little bit. Nobody cares.” It didn’t matter how much she told herself that; the nagging thoughts wouldn’t go away. 

This was too important to just throw caution to the wind. This was essentially a first impression. It had been years since anybody had entered her home, let alone her club members. Visitors weren’t very common in her home. Both her parents were typically working while she was home, and at home when she was at school. Days would pass by without her saying more than ten sentences to her parents; however, it was not a cold relationship by any means. Just a busy and conflicting one.

And so that dynamic lead to her home being a deathly silent one, more often than not. Monika would sometimes blare music just to kill the silence, but that felt too disruptive for her. So she would sit in the quiet, the television being the only thing brave enough to make a sound in that tomb of a home. 

Monika was lonely, but she had grown quite fond of the quiet. It was like a gentle friend, always standing in the background, smiling at her softly, but never reaching out to interact with her. It was a peaceful existence, but not the one she wanted. 

Butterflies hatched in her stomach at the thought of her home being filled with laughter and enjoyment. Jokes and jeers, smiles and shouts, all were so alien in her undisturbed home that she almost worried it would somehow wake up and tell them to quiet down. 

But a warm smile crept over her face at the thought of it. She took a few deep breaths, as she was known to do when stressed, and shook the anxiety out of her head. It would be okay. She repeated that to herself like a lullaby until she was finally able to decide on her outfit.

She went with the shorts and tank top. It was one of her favorite outfits, even if it was a bit chilly outside. The top depicted a fantasy scene of an open field with a dragon flying high above. The sky was, oddly enough, a bright magenta, and the full moon loomed over the entire scene, even though it was clearly daytime in the design. Monika had given it some thought if perhaps the designers had split the work up and forgotten some core details, but nonetheless, she had bought it months ago.

This was her first time wearing it in front of anybody she knew. She worried that it would be too on-the-nose, but she pushed that dreadful thought out of her head in favor of more exciting and enjoyable ones. She meandered her way downstairs, only to be greeted by more silence. Monika’s stomach had done loops at the thought of having to ask her parents for permission. 

It was a classic scene she had seen in movies a dozen times before. The teenager would go to their parents and ask for permission to hang out with their friends privately. Their parents would always say “Well, okay, but no parties!” And they would give the teenager a side-eyed glance as they slipped away, plotting their evening. Monika had the entire thing planned out in her head, but when she got there, her parents simply told her that they would be away for the weekend. Her mother traveling for a conference, her father taking care of a sick relative. 

It was a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. She told them her plans anyway, and they merely gave her a nod. They had no need to worry. She was Little Miss Perfect, and never would she have to be worried about. Never would she have to be scolded, or given rules and curfews. She could do whatever she wanted...so why did it feel so wrong to do what she wanted? 

Monika brushed a hand over the counter top and sighed. Her breath was the only sound that rang out over the quiet hum of the electronics in the house. All there was left to do was get ready and wait. She had decided the dining room would be the most appropriate place to have their game. 

Crossing past the living room, in a small room off of her kitchen, Monika’s dining room had been transformed in only an hour. Candles were lit in each corner of the room. Pines, berries, wildflowers, and rainwater were the scents she had chosen. She had had doubts, but the smells mixed together quite well, leaving a fairly realistic imitation of the scents of the forest. 

All her materials lay on one end of the table. Her “DM chair” as she had dubbed it. A foldable screen that contained all sorts of important information blocked the player’s view of her work, leaving her dice rolls and scribblings an absolute mystery. Monika hadn’t thought it terribly necessary, but the mystery added an element of fun to the table.

A bluetooth speaker at the far end of the room was connected to her phone, with a playlist she had stayed up making the night before. She had planned it perfectly. A looping soundtrack for each scenario of the day. It took her more than two hours to decide on the perfect music for combat, but she was proud of it. She was proud of all of it. 

Monika took a step back and admired her work. She slipped her phone out of her nearly dreadfully shallow pocket and checked the time. Only four more hours of waiting to go. She sighed. She was going to go insane.

*****

Yuri shook with each step. She was so close, yet so far. In truth, Monika’s house wasn’t more than a twenty minute walk away, but it might as well have been a trek over a mountain. About five times she had turned back, sure she had forgotten something before realizing that, no, she hadn’t. Her nerves ate away at her the entire way there.

Yuri stopped to check her reflection in the front-facing camera of her phone. Her hair had refused to cooperate that morning, and her long locks were plagued with more fly-aways than she could count. She smoothed her hair out with her hand, inadvertently playing with it--a nervous habit of hers. It was a soothing motion, to run her long, purple hair through her hands like water. If Yuri could boast anything, it was that her hair was remarkably soft to the touch. 

She snapped out of her trance and slid her phone back into her purse. She had chosen a rather bland but comfortable outfit to wear: a large beige sweater with a pair of black leggings. She had wrestled with the idea of adding a bit more flair to her outfit, but the thought of being the only one to stand out made her nearly upchuck her breakfast. No, this was fine, she decided. 

The last leg of her walk was the hardest. She checked the time. It was a quarter to twelve when Monika’s home came into view. Her fears of being too early eased when she saw a familiar, tiny, pink figure standing behind the wall that fenced in Monika’s home. Her arms were crossed, and she was biting her lip. Yuri nearly had to use her other arm to force herself to wave to the petite girl. 

Natsuki caught her immediately, and practically jogged over to her. 

“Hello, Natsuki,” Yuri said. “It’s nice to see you.” Yuri feared that sounded too formal for friends, but she didn’t linger on it for long. 

“Yeah, hey, you too. Have you seen Sayori?” 

“No. It’s still early, she might be on her way.” 

“Ugh. I just hope she isn’t late. I’ve been waiting here forever, but I didn’t wanna go in because...well…” Yuri’s eyes lit up, and a smile crossed her pale cheeks.

“It seemed like it was too early?” Yuri couldn’t contain her joy. 

“Yeah.” Natsuki gave a cool nod. 

“I know that exact feeling! It happens to me all the time.” 

“Yeah...I try to be on time. Especially when it’s like...important, ya know?” A blush found itself quite welcome on Natsuki’s round cheeks.

“I know that all too well, Natsuki.” Yuri smiled. Natsuki struggled to meet her gaze.

“A-Anyway, now that you’re here I guess we can go on inside, right?” Natsuki didn’t wait for a reply before trudging through the front gate and knocking on Monika’s door. It was flung open in a matter of seconds. 

“Hey! It’s great to see you’re all here!” 

“Well, minus Sayori. She’s probably on the way. Well...probably.” 

“No problem, no problem. Come on in.” Monika held the door open for the two girls of varying heights. They found themselves staring wide-eyed at the high ceilings and wide, airy living room. 

“Yo, Monika this place is huge. Are you rich or something?” Natsuki shot the question with a toothy grin. 

“I must say, it is quite nice in here.” Yuri admired the slight echo of her voice against the walls. Monika put her hands up defensively. 

“No, no! Nothing like that. This house is actually kinda old. It’s my grandpa’s house. And I think it might have been his dad’s house before him? I’m not really sure, but it’s seen a lot of remodeling. Some of this stuff is older than anybody in the family.” Monika gushed about her home as she walked around aimlessly. She stopped quite suddenly and turned to the girls. “Right, sorry. You probably don’t care about all that. Ha, I ramble when--” she stopped herself suddenly with a cough. “Yeah, it’s a really old place, but it’s not like--no, it’s not dangerous or anything.” 

Natsuki and Yuri gave her a reassuring smile as she cooled herself down. She ushered the girls into the kitchen and offered them a drink. Monika repeatedly checked the time on her phone as the minutes ticked by. The girls decided to linger in the kitchen to kill some time. 

“Natsuki, are you wearing makeup?” Monika craned her head forward with a grin. The small girl turned her face away from her club president. 

“No, it’s nothing. Just...a little blush.” Yuri could see that that wasn’t quite true. It wasn’t too noticeable, but she had most definitely dolled herself up a bit. 

“Well, you blended it quite well, Natsuki. I never knew you were into makeup, let alone so good at it.” The complement flowed through Yuri more naturally than any compliment ever had. She was shocked as it slipped past her lips.

“R-Really?” Natsuki looked up into her eyes. It was an innocent look, a pure, genuine look that seemed to be so rare from the feisty girl. “I’ve never--I’ve never really heard that before.” 

“That’s surprising to hear. It looks great!” Monika chimed in, making conversation look easy. “How often do you wear makeup, Natsuki?” 

“Only on special occasions, and sometimes when Papa takes me out somewhere.” 

“Well, I’m honored that you call this a special occasion, Natsuki,” Monika smirked, causing the petite girl to recoil and scoff. 

“I never said that! I just...I got some new brushes and I was bored waiting around all day, so I thought I’d try them out.” Natuski turned away from the taller girl, her cheeks puffed and pouting. Monika looked to Yuri with a grin. 

Before that conversation could continue, a rhythmic knocking appeared at the door. It was a song, no doubt, but none of the girls could quite place it. For a short while, that guessing game was the main topic of conversation until Monika finally opened the door to reveal a beaming Sayori. 

“Was that Queen?” 

“Yep! Can you guess which song?” Monika gave it some genuine thought for about ten seconds before answering. 

“‘I Want to Break Free’? ” 

“Nope! ‘Bicycle’!” 

“Oh, I love that song,” Yuri said. Sayori quickly slid her way inside, holding her binder and dice to her chest like a kindergartner on her first day of school. She found herself equally mesmerized by the home, whistling for a minute just to hear it reverberate. 

“This reminds me of that one show from when I was a kid.” 

“Which one?” Natsuki questioned. 

“I dunno. It had a family though.” 

“Most shows do,” Natsuki answered, rolling her eyes. 

“But they were really weird, and really fun! I always wanted to visit that house.” Suddenly Sayori caught Monika in her peripherals. “But I like your house too!” Monika chuckled, then escorted the girls to her dining room.

&&&&&

Laverna slipped through the underbrush silently. She scurried her way up a tree, not unlike a squirrel, and found herself a good position. She pried apart the shroud of leaves to reveal their target. Three Twig Blights, and three Needle Blights. The groups were growing bigger, but fortunately, the party was growing smarter. Laverna turned back to face her three companions. 

Natsu hid herself among the shrubs, and Tommy and Sunflower kept their backs to the trees. Laverna made a motion with her finger that imitated piercing, then held up three fingers. All three nodded. She then did the same again, but with a wispy finger movement. They understood the message. Laverna readied her longbow as she watched her companions begin stealthing their way forward. 

Sunflower slipped forward like a cat, bouncing from foot to foot almost as if she were dancing. She made her way to cover behind an oak tree on the ridge overlooking their foes, who were currently idling, but not hiding, for some strange reason. She paid it little mind as she watched Tommy go next. 

His lanky body crouched, then took very awkward, slow steps, much like a penguin. Laverna gave a concerned look toward their quarry, but they showed no signs of alarm as Tommy waddled his way into cover. Natsu was considerably less agile as she practically kicked her way through the bushes, rattling leaves and sticks violently as she made her way forward. 

Laverna snapped her eyes shut and cringed, but when she popped her eyes open again, Natsu was in cover, and their enemies were still unaware somehow. The girl credited it to the terrible hearing of creatures without proper ears. She breathed a sigh of relief as they began enacting the plan. Laverna would be the one to kick it off, but the others would follow close behind. 

She wrapped an arrow in cloth that had been soaked in oil. Her eyes scanned the tree range, seeking out each of her companions. Sunflower with lute in hand, Tommy with his shortbow, and Natsu with her handaxes. They had the element of surprise, all they had to do was not waste it. 

In one swift motion, Laverna sparked a flame and ignited the arrow. Before her enemies could notice the light in the tree, Laverna sent the flaming arrow sailing through the sky. It found a comfortable home in the wooden chest of the center Needle Blight. It gave out a strange shriek that sounded like wood dragging against stone before it fell to the ground, crackling and roasting. It was at this point, the rest of the enemy group noticed the handaxe and arrow flying towards them as well. Tommy’s arrow took the head clean off of a Twig Blight, and Natsu’s axe pinned one to the tree behind it, killing it as well. 

The Blights scrambled to action as the attack finally dawned upon them, but their surprise attack was not finished yet. The most powerful member had yet to act. Natsu and Tommy gave Sunflower the thumbs up as she stepped from cover, playing her lute. She sang a beautiful, haunting melody that rang out through the trees. The Blights didn’t have any clear facial features for hearing, but they could indeed hear her song. 

They rushed up the hill toward her, claws and needles ready to launch, but as the only remaining Twig Blight took his first step onto the hill, he found his energy sapped from him as the light in his eyes began to slowly dim and dull. His legs wobbled, and he fell forward, asleep. The two Needle Blights did the same, only before they succumbed to the magical slumber, they both attempted to launch an attack. Their needles shot no more than ten feet before hitting the ground harmlessly. And with that, all three enemies had fallen victim to Sunflower’s sweet song of slumber. 

The tiefling put a hand on her chest as her song finished. She turned to her party members with an ecstatic grin. Right before she could open her mouth, Natsu slapped her hand over it. The barbarian put a finger to her lips, then pointed to the sleeping enemies below them. Sunflower nodded. Natsu only took her hand away when she was absolutely sure. Laverna descended the tree to meet up with her allies.

“That went well!” Laverna whispered. 

“Yeah, we really got this business down!” Tommy scratched the back of his head and smiled. 

“We’re a real team now! Look at us!” Sunflower beamed. 

“Job ain’t quite done yet,” Natsu said, making her way down the hill carefully. This bit was a bit more gruesome than most were willing to do. Putting an enemy down in the heat of battle was one thing, but to take them out while they were sleeping was a bit harsher. Thankfully, Natsu’s stomach was made of stronger stuff than that. 

The team stood by as Natsu took the heads off the two Needle Blights. It wasn’t until she got to the last Twig Blight that Tommy finally had his idea. He slid down the hill, waving his hands. 

“Wait, wait!” he called out just as Natsu raised her handaxe above her head. 

“What, did you call dibs or something?” 

“No, no, I just had an idea!” 

“Firewood?” 

“No! What if we took this one back with us?” 

“Oh, well, that’s a weird pet idea, but I guess if you get a good leash it’ll be alright.” Sunflower chuckled at that one. The creature stirred slightly, but didn’t awaken. Sunflower put the hand over her own mouth this time. 

“We might be able to study it, and maybe learn somethin’ useful!” 

“Oh, alright, yeah, that’s a pretty good idea.” Natsu stowed her handaxe. “But how much longer does the spell last?” 

“About another three seconds,” Sunflower chimed in. 

“Oh,” Natsu said right before the creature leapt to its feet and attacked her. The two went rolling as Natsu punched and wrestled with the twig creature.

“Remember! Don’t kill it!” Tommy cried. 

“Easy for you to say!” Natsu shouted back as she finally caught one of the creature’s flailing arms and pinned it to its back. After another quick bout of swinging wildly, she finally caught the other one and held them together. “Help would be nice! Anybody? Anybody at all with about a foot of rope?” 

“Oh, right,” Laverna said, finally springing into action to secure the creature’s arms. They were a bit strangely shaped, with rounded claws almost like paws on thin, spindly arms, but she was able to find a configuration that kept it contained. The restraints didn’t stop the creature from wriggling and writhing though. 

Natsu took hold of the extra rope that had been attached to the creature’s bindings. 

“Ha, ya know, that’s not too bad a pet.” The creature leapt at Tommy, but Natsu yanked it backwards. “Down, boy. Alright, if we’re gonna get this thing back we might wanna get moving.” And suddenly, a strange feeling came over Natsu. Not just Natsu, but both Sunflower and Laverna as well. A strange, new feeling. Like they finally gained enough experience in their travels to hit a new level. 

“Hm, on a scale of one to twenty, how do you girls feel?” Natsu questioned. “I’m feeling like a two right now, if I’m being honest.” 

&&&&&

Natsuki stared at her expectantly. The entire table joined in. Monika restrained a smirk as she shook her head.

“And with that, you have finally reached level two,” Monika confirmed.

“Oh, yeah, baby! That’s what I’ve been waitin’ for! That’s what it’s all about! Woo!” Natsuki called out. Yuri figured that specific statement may have been a reference of some sort, but it was definitely one that escaped her.

“Natsuki, how did you know we were on the verge of leveling up?” Yuri inquired. 

“Oh, I might have done some research...just a little bit.” 

“Lies! You had like six tabs open on your phone that entire time!” Sayori cried out.

“What? Were you watching me?” Sayori got uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments.

“I mean...maybe. I do that sometimes.” She made a triangle with her fingers, tapping them together lightly, looking like a guilty child. “Yuri shops online a lot.”

“Um, maybe we don’t need to talk about that,” Yuri felt a heat begin washing over her as she stepped into unusual territories of socialization.

“For real? What does she buy?” Yuri looked to Monika for support, but the club leader seemed just as interested as Natsuki. Yuri was mortified at the answer. 

“So, Monika what do we do now?” Yuri piped up, perhaps louder than she ever had before. 

“Oh, uh, right.” Monika was shaken out of her trance. “So, we’ll have to do this one at a time, I guess. I can start with you, if you want.” Even with her efforts to change the topic, Sayori still managed to lean over and whisper the answer to Natsuki. She knew she had told her because for the next few minutes, Natsuki’s eyes seemed to be drawn to her chest. Yuri felt like burying her face in her hands and hiding under the table, but she knew if she did it would only be confirming the answer. It was best to retain deniability. 

And so the party stepped up to the next level, quite literally. Monika went over the basics for everybody. At this level, it was mostly a bump in hit points, and an introduction to a new ability. Monika frantically promised the party that higher levels would bring them more fantastic abilities, but frankly, the girls were quite pleased with the small bump in power they had received. 

Yuri, having unfortunately botched her hit point roll, was mainly focusing on her new ability: spellcasting. Sayori was overjoyed to have another magic user in the party, although she was only allowed two spells. It seemed a simple choice for most, but these two decisions were massive to Yuri. These could save lives or ruin them; how could she make such a choice in a matter of minutes? 

The party left Yuri to ponder the spell list of the ranger, and moved onto Natsuki, who was all but bouncing in her chair in anticipation. First came her roll to increase her hit points. It was a decent roll that landed just about right in the middle; it was a five. Nothing to get excited about, but with her constitution modifier, it was nothing to sniff at either. Natsuki shrugged and smiled either way. Her next ability had her more than excited. 

“It’s called ‘Reckless Attack’, right?” Natsuki cut in, throwing Monika off her rhythm slightly. 

“Uh, yes. You know what it does?” 

“It gives me advantage when I attack, right?” 

“Yes, if you declare it, but enemies get advantage when they attack you as well.” Natsuki sat in silence for a moment, contemplating something. 

“That’s cool and all, but...what’s advantage?” Natsuki inquired.

“Ooh, oh! I know this one!” Sayori chimed in. “It was on your phone earlier. Advantage is when you get to roll twice instead of once, and I think you get to take the higher one? Right? Yeah! How’d you not see it?” 

“I don’t always read the whole thing. I skim it sometimes. And stop looking at my phone!” Natsuki huffed as she shooed Sayori from her shoulder. The cheery girl merely giggled as she continued to hover just out of Natsuki’s reach. Monika shifted her gaze from them to Yuri, who was still muttering to herself about choices. 

“I could go with some of the more supportive healing options, but Sayori seems to have that covered...but it would be nice to have the extra support.” 

“You okay over there?” Monika asked. Yuri practically jumped out of her chair. 

“Oh, yes. Sorry, was I being too loud?” 

“You’re good. Don’t overthink it. Just pick whichever one you think you’d get the most use out of.” Yuri gave her a thoughtful nod as she returned to reading the spell list off her phone. “Okay, Sayori, you’re up.” 

The girl slid her chair over to Monika’s, leaving very little wiggle room between them. Monika gave a light chuckle before giving her a tiny shove back. Sayori fought back playfully, sliding her chair back in place each time. Eventually, the club leader gave a sigh, and relinquished the space to Sayori, who was now leaning on her shoulder. 

“So, you get a new spell. I’ll let you pick that one out when you want, and two new abilities.” Monika mumbled to herself as she read the description, but Sayori surprisingly spoke up before she could repeat the information back to her more clearly. 

“Song of Rest. I can spend a hit die at the end of a short rest to give an extra D6 of hit points to any friendly creature that can hear it. Got it.” Sayori scribbled it down hastily. Monika was taken aback at how quickly the girl was able to pick up on things. Many people might have written her off as air-headed for her clumsiness, but Sayori was perceptive, if anything. Even if that big, goofy smile might be distracting, there was a wonderfully active brain behind those eyes.

“Monika? Monny?” Sayori drug her out of the vast, roaming hills that were the landscapes of her mind. 

“Right, sorry. Got distracted. The other thing you get here is called ‘Jack of All Trades’. It lets you add your proficiency bonus rounded down to any ability checks you make that aren’t already using it. Hm, interesting. That’s kinda crazy.” 

“Ooh, I can do anything!” 

“Well, you can get a plus one to anything, that’s for sure.” Monika had to wrestle with the logistics of that skill for a moment. She questioned how becoming a bard could give you skills in survival techniques, but far be it from her to write the rules. Besides, Sayori’s smile was too adorable to deny her the ability to do whatever she set her mind to. 

By the time the girls wrapped up, Yuri had finally made her decision. Natsuki and Sayori leaned over the table to see what she had chosen.

“‘Fog cloud’? What’s that?” Natsuki questioned, already pulling her phone out to look it up. 

“It lets me create a dense cloud that--”

“Ooh, ‘Hunter’s Mark’ sounds neat!” Sayori interrupted.

“Oh, that is quite a useful ability. I can do a lot more damage--”

“Just looked it up. She’s basically a fog machine.”

“Well, I think it has a lot of practical uses in--”

“Hey, maybe we could use that to make a cool entrance!”

“What, like an 80’s band?” 

“Yeah, that could be our thing!”

“What thing?” 

“You know, our thing! Our trademark, our brand!” 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Come on, think about it!” Yuri shrank away as the conversation went far above her head and into the clouds. Trying to find a place to enter now was like rock climbing in a monsoon. Monika caught her eye, and the club leader’s grin and eye roll gave her a feeling of reassurance. 

“Okay, everyone, let’s bring it back to the table.” Natsuki and Sayori stopped their conversation, which had now gone far past the original topic into nonsense nobody could understand, dead in the middle of a sentence. 

“We’ll pick this up later,” Natsuki assured Sayori as the two returned to their seats. Monika took a look around at the party. With new abilities in hand, all three felt like they could take on all sorts of new challenges, and their faces reflected that. Monika was quite ecstatic about that, because she had all sorts of new challenges to throw at them.


	7. New Plans, New Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The club continue their weekend session of Dungeons and Dragons. Things at home begin to come to a boil for Natsuki, and things at the table begin to stir for Yuri. Things are moving forward for everybody, but is anybody ready for these changes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note for clarification. 
> 
> &&&&&-Indicates a break between the real world and the game.
> 
> *****-Indicates a break in perspective, time, or whatever else, but is still either in the real world, or in the game. 
> 
> Apologies for any confusion, I'm not entirely sure on the formatting, and I'm kinda winging it, but I hope everybody is enjoying! I sure am!

A loud cacophony rang out through the silent home. The front door swung upon its hinges quickly enough to cause it to give out a shriek as it careened into the standing coat rack. The ensuing sounds of wood clattering on wood only soured his mood even further.

“Stupid fuckin’ thing...why is it even...ugh,” Vernon muttered to himself as he bent over to lift the long wooden rack back into its standard placement, albeit slightly further from the path of the door. As he rose, a sharp pain shot through his back. He slapped a hand to his side, as if he were trying to cover a bleeding wound. It did no good. He rose to his full height with a grimace through clenched teeth.

As he stood, his gaze met a framed photograph hanging on the wall. Well, he saw the back of it. He’d turned the frame around years ago. Just seeing it ruined his day every time. The divorce never left his mind. He was reminded of it every single day. Every time she stepped through the door, every dinner as she sat across from him, every time he had to answer an unnecessary question of hers, every day the thought ran through his head. How? How had it gotten so bad?

He made a loop from the fridge to the living room. It was a familiar path for him. As he planted himself onto the couch, he kicked his shoes across the room with a sharp laugh. Every day he mentally measured how far he could kick them. This time they had made it a yard from the front door. If he got them much further, he might actually land them on the shoe rack. The thought of that amused him.

The beer in his hand sighed and popped as he cracked it open on the edge of the coffee table. A pile of bottle caps was quickly forming on the stained, scratched table. A few times he had considered keeping the caps and maybe making some sort of craft with them. On some passing show he had watched he had seen somebody actually made a tabletop out of hundreds of caps. It didn’t take much math to figure out that he could have made that one a long time ago. 

He threw his head back. It was quiet without Natsuki. No matter how far she was, he could always hear her in the background. Whether it was the repetitive sound effect of some videogame, or the loud screeching of one of her Japanese cartoons, she was never far off, but rarely ever was she in his sight. That thought caused his mouth to curl into a snarl. 

How was he the bad guy? He was the one who took her in. He was the one who clothed her, who paid for her school supplies, who fed her...at least most days. Vernon scratched the back of his head as he remembered the benders he’d gone on. When he came back, he found every cabinet in the house empty, and Natsuki nowhere to be found. She’d gone to the neighbor, apparently asking if they’d seen him. A pang of guilt stabbed him in the gut. She could have said so much more. She could have said so much worse. But she didn’t. And when they didn’t know, that was the end of it. He could understand it now, so why did it make him so angry at the time?

Vernon sat his beer down and put his head in his hands. 

“Why do I always fuck everything up?” He wasn’t sure who he was talking to. The walls, the pictures, maybe God himself? The question went unanswered as he sat in contemplation. There were more mistakes than he could count, and every day he made more of them. If there was a Hell, his would be standing in front of the pearly gates, listening to Saint Peter list off all his sins in front of everybody. The mere thought of it made him want to vomit. 

The glares, the behind-the-hand whispers, all of it. He deserved it, yet he couldn’t stand it. Every time the two of them left the house, that’s all he got. The stupid look the waiter gave him when he ordered another beer popped into his mind. Who the hell was he to judge? Who the hell was anybody to judge? They didn’t know, they hadn’t been through what he had, they weren’t dealing with the same thing. 

From the start, it felt to Vernon like everybody was running the same race, but his track had been cluttered with hurdles and pits as far as he could see. The biggest one was right behind him now, but his race was far from over, and he didn’t have the stamina left to keep going. 

And she returned to his mind: Natsuki. His girl...their baby girl. 

“It shouldn’t have went down like this,” he spoke to himself again. His hands supported the full weight of his splitting head as he leaned over the coffee table. His hand blindly scrambled for the remote. He tapped the power button on the remote, and the blaring sounds of whatever sitcom was playing during the middle of the day came on. It would help. Anything to kill the silence. To end his thoughts. 

A few swigs of beer later, and Vernon was back on the couch, groaning and muttering about work. Every move sent a wave of discomfort through him, no matter which way he turned. He almost called out for Natsuki to bring his muscle rub to him, but their conversation the day before came back to mind. 

“Why’d she look so damn scared?” he asked himself, eyes fixed on the television. “I don’t care. It’s fine.” He shook his head as he drained the bottle. His thoughts lingered for a moment, and the only way to settle them was to retrieve his phone from his pocket. He only had a handful of contacts on the old smartphone, and Natsuki was at the top of them. A few taps later, and he had sent her a simple message: When r you comin home? 

He sat his phone down. She always took a minute to respond, but rarely ever did she keep him waiting. Unfortunately for him, Vernon knew she wasn’t going to be home in the next few minutes, so with some effort, he rose from the couch to retrieve his cream and another beer. His phone laid silent on the table. 

&&&&&

“Now...ya wanna tell me what the hell y’all have done here?” Mr. Jamison questioned as the girls drug the creature through the front door. Natsu trudged forward with both arms flexing, but its wooden feet scraped along the ground only an inch at a time. Laverna and Sunflower stood by patiently, and Tommy held his club at the ready. 

“Is that one of those things?” Clarissa looked to Jamison for the answer. 

“Welp, uh, looks like it. T’be honest, I remembered ‘em being bigger.” 

“Well, he’s been a pretty big pain in the ass, if that counts for anything!” Natsu hollered as she finally tripped the creature up and slid him along the floor. The barbarian was covered in bruises, scratches, and what looked to be a bite mark on her right bicep. She had been in charge of escorting the creature, and it had made sure her job was not an enjoyable one. 

Without the freedom to kill it, Natsu had to settle for verbal attacks, and after a while, her insults had run dry. Laverna snatched a chair from a desk in the corner and sat it behind the Blight. With some effort, Natsu was able to lift and restrain the creature long enough for Sunflower to secure it to the chair. 

“Is it tight?” Natsu questioned, leaning away from the snapping creature. 

“I think so.” 

“Think so or know so?”

“Uh...little bit of both?” Natsu sighed and trusted her companion. She let the creature go, and much to her relief, its frantic attempts at escape were not enough to persuade the length of rope to loosen. It wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Alright, great work, good work, team. Now what the hell are we doin’?” Jamison repeated his earlier statement. 

“To make a long story short, Mr. Jamison, we plan on interrogating this creature in one form or another,” Laverna said. The half-elf kicked the mud from her boots at the door, and dusted herself off as she re-entered the hall.

“Can this thing even talk, though?” Sunflower questioned, swiveling her head around for an answer. Nobody seemed to have a solid one for her. 

“Well, it didn’t say anything back, but it seemed to understand when I called it a useless twiggy piece of shit,” Natsu replied. As she repeated the statement, the creature made a futile attempt to leap at her. She blew a raspberry at it.

“Right. Right. Good info,” Jamison nodded his head, tipping his hat back for a better look at the creature. “So, where do we start?” Natsu lifted her fist slowly. Laverna placed a hand on hers, lowered the barbarian’s fist, then shook her head. 

A good deal of time passed as the group collectively brainstormed. All the while, the creature thrashed and writhed in the chair. On one occasion, it almost slipped a twiggy arm from its binding, but a good bonk from Tommy’s club set it back in line.

“Okay...hear me out,” Sunflower began for the third time. “Does it have a brain?” 

“No, I split one in half. I literally have no idea how these things are alive,” Natsu replied, laying face-down on a bench, her arm dragging the ground. 

“Magic, more than likely,” Laverna answered; she was sitting in the corner reading a book. A few seconds of silence--save for the snoring of Mr. Jamison--passed by. Sunflower’s eyes lit up once more. She stood up from the bench suddenly enough to wake the sleeping retiree. 

“I’ve got it! If magic is the problem, then magic is the solution!” 

“Fight fire with fire? I like it,” Natsu said, turning herself over to rejoin the conversation. 

“But what kind?” Laverna questioned. Sunflower took inventory of her own abilities. 

“I could...heal it? No. Stupid idea.” 

“You are correct, but I may have an idea,” a groggy Mr. Jamison replied. “Clarissa, be a dear and go get the map, would ya?” The mousy girl nodded and practically dove into the pile of junk harbored in one of the hall closets. She tossed aside several dozen objects of varying importance before she found a map case. Dust danced through the sunbeams as she carried it from the closet to the table. 

She struggled to unravel it, but once she weighed each end down with a mug, she was finally able to see it. Jamison meandered his way over, spitting on the floor as he crossed. 

“Alrighty, I’m trustin’ one of ya knows how to read a map.” Sunflower and Natsu looked to Laverna, who gave them a shrug and a semi-confident nod. “Works for me. So, if y’all will direct your attention, here is where we are.” He poked a weathered finger into the bottom left corner of the continent labeled “Ceraphin”. The girls were blown away by the sheer size of the land they were currently on. It would take more than a week to cross it from coast to coast.

“Side note, just want to say this map is pretty rad,” Natsu gave the compliment, which Jamison received and replied in a voice that sounded much more like a young girl than his own voice. He gave a cough and continued. 

“So this is where we are. Albeit, a lot more forest ‘round us than there was before. There’s a town called Seratin about a day’s walk east from here. ‘Fore ya could follow the road and probably get there before sundown, but now...well, it’s anybody's game, really. I’m thinkin’ having a ranger in the party’ll help with that, though.” He turned toward the half-elf with a nod. Laverna was beaming with pride.

“I won’t let you down,” she assured him. 

“Okay, good plan so far...but why are we going there?” Natsu asked. 

“Oh, right, right. See, I got a friend who owes me a favor there. Name’s Sera. She’s a druid. Now I am not sure how familiar y’all are with druids, but--” 

“Isn’t the Witch of the Woods a druid?” Clarissa piped up. Jamison turned to her.

“Listen, I am aware the irony of the situation--usin’ a druid to help fight a druid--but we ain’t got a plethora of choices, m’kay? Anyway. Druids can speak with plants. Some of ‘em, anyway. My hope is that she can get into this one’s mind.” He planted a hand on the Blight’s head and gave its twiggy tangle a tousle. That irritated it for sure. “And maybe we can get somethin’ useful out of it. If not, well, turn his ass into firewood on the way back. I don’t care.” All three girls nodded and agreed it was the best plan they had at the moment.

“I gotta say, Jamison, this is the most useful you’ve been so far,” Natsu said with a smirk that curved her lips. 

“Backhanded compliment aside, I’ll also be needin’ y’all to give me a report of the town when you get back. We’ve been cut off for a while, and it’s been silent. We need to know how things are goin’ on their end. And especially let ‘em know how things are goin’ on ours.” Jamison removed the mugs and rolled the map back up. He handed it to Laverna, who took it with deep appreciation. She gushed over the quality of the paper. 

“But more than anything, be careful!” Clarissa said, looking smaller than she really was in that moment. “There’s a reason we don’t travel the roads anymore. You’ll be in constant danger! You have to make sure you’re absolutely ready before you leave!” 

“Maybe some sturdier armor might help a few of ya.” Jamison gave a quick survey of the party. The entirety of them, including Tommy, wore leather at best. Most of their garments had been torn, soiled, soaked, or scratched terribly. It was a wonder that they had held up as long as they had. The girls were suddenly quite aware of the dilapidated status of their armors, except for Natsu. 

“I’m only just now noticing you’re not wearing any armor,” Laverna pointed out.

“Nope. Don’t need it when you’re tough.” She patted her biceps. Laverna raised a finger to object, but Natsu looked determined to prove her wrong no matter what she said. 

“You are tough, I’ll give you that.” 

“Ooh, are we gonna go shopping?” Sunflower perked up. 

“Unfortunately...there aren’t a lot of choices for shopping in Woodrot.” 

“Well, where can we go, Clarissa?” Laverna inquired. The mousy girl took a few moments before opening her mouth once more. 

“You’re not gonna like it…” 

“Just tell us the name at least,” Natsu cut in. 

“The Rowdy Maiden.” The name took all three girls aback, and Laverna even chuckled before the grimaces on both Tommy and Clarissa’s faces confirmed that it wasn’t a joke after all. 

“Are you quite sure that isn’t a tavern of some sort? I mean who gives that kind of a name to a blacksmith’s shop?”

“Probably a gross old man,” Natsu replied, only to be surprised by the shaking of Tommy’s head.

“Actually...she’s the rowdy maiden.” A few beats of silence passed.

“What?” 

“You’ll see for yourself.”

*****

The walk over hadn’t taken long, but Laverna regretted taking the time to kick the mud off her boots earlier. It was absolutely pouring down bucket after bucket of rain, and the moment she had stepped back onto the road, she had sunk nearly ankle-deep into a mud puddle. With a groan, she yanked her foot out and continued.

Sunflower led the group to the shop. The others had decided that Sunflower should be the face of the party in situations like this. How could anybody say no to that smile? She equipped that same smile as they came upon the shop. It wasn’t particularly impressive; it looked about like the rest of the town. It was a single-story building made of stone that now sported a moss overcoat. Only one large window allowed light into the building, but it was covered with a curtain. The only other distinct feature was the sign: a woman with a bottle in her hand, leaning on an anvil. The girls braced themselves. 

Sunflower knocked as delicate as a spring rain tapping on the door. She got no response. She knocked two more times before Natsu stepped past her and all but bashed the door down with her dense knuckles. 

“Oi, I’m comin’!” A voice called out from inside. Sunflower turned back to the dwarf with a look of worry, but Natsu merely gave her a thumbs up and shoved her forward. The door swung in on itself to reveal a human woman taller than Laverna by a head. She had hair as red and exuberant as the flaming forge behind her; it hung down to her hips in wild locks. Her biceps were thicker than Sunflower’s entire body. Her own body was only obscured by a blacksmith’s apron and a pair of simple cloth pants. She wore no shoes. Her leathery skin told a winding tale of battle with a plethora of scars that carved all sorts of shapes across her body. 

This woman was intimidating. Sunflower struggled to unlock her jaw. “Aye, whit?” she asked in a harsh, stony voice. It was a strange dialect, and one that Sunflower had to strain to understand. “Ya Awright?” She leaned down to Sunflower’s level. She smelled of sweat and charcoal. The tiefling leaned back reflexively. Eventually, she was able to find her voice, albeit meek and mild. 

“Hi-hello. My friends and I were looking for equipment.” The woman took a survey of the room behind her, then crinkled her face in a look of genuine confusion.

“W-What? This is a bakery, lassie. Ah don’t ken nothin’ aboot na equipment.” 

“Oh, oh really?” Sunflower put a hand to cover her mouth. 

“Pfft, nah!” She smacked Sunflower on the shoulder. “I’m joshin’ ya, ya hen. Come on in, bring yer gommies wit ye.” The large woman turned back to her shop. Laverna and Natsu stood silent for a few moments before they realized they were the gommies. 

“What’s a gommy?” 

“It must be another language. Maybe orcish,” Laverna replied before entering. Natsu shut the door behind them, and the dwarf was instantly hit with a wave of heat. 

“Geez! How can you stand this?” Natsu immediately removed the hide mantle she used to keep the rain off of herself. Other than that, all the girl wore were some simple leather gauntlets lined with fur, and a mismatched shirt of rabbit hide and other various small critters. 

“Aw, yer a bit of a crabbit, ain’t ye?” The large woman took a seat on a stool by her forge, rattling through a basket to find a small glass bottle.

“A what?” Natsu questioned as she slipped the mantle under her arm. 

“A crabbit. Eh, can’t hulp it, ah suppose. Yer absolutely drookit! Nuttin tae be dane ‘bout it. It’s a dreich day.” Natsu stared at the woman as if she had been speaking an Eldritch language to her. Not more than two words of that entire sentence made sense to the barbarian, but to her credit, it made no more sense to Laverna either. Sunflower on the other hand was nodding along with a smile. 

“Right. Right. It’s nasty out there,” Sunflower commented. 

“Aye. Bit I’m bein’ a blether. Whit kin ah dae fur ya?” The woman turned her stool back toward Sunflower, bottle in hand. 

“Like I said, we’re--what’s that?” Sunflower, filled with the curiosity of a cat, slunk over to the woman and observed the bottle. 

“Oi, this? A smourich from this’ll hae ya bokin’ in na time. ‘Specially a bonnie lass like yerself.” The tall woman put her large, scarred fist to Sunflower’s belly and gave her a light tap. The tiefling giggled. The blacksmith raised the bottle to her mouth, flashing her wolf-like canine teeth. She snapped her jaw down onto the cork and yanked it out with a pop. “Hae a whiff, see if it don’t make ya greet.” She held the bottle out to the small girl. 

The tiefling leaned over the bottle. It was a green, delicate thing that was only slightly bigger than her own hand; it looked like a toy in the large woman’s hands. The odor slowly rose into her nostrils, and the moment it did, the tiefling’s eyes began to water. It smelled like rotted apples and charcoal. She gave a cough and covered her nose with her arm. 

“Ha! It’s right boggin, itn’t it?” Sunflower nodded with a laugh. The blacksmith put a hand on her head and tousled her curly brown hair. “Yer a clever hen, ya know?” Laverna and Natsu found themselves a warm place by the forge to wring the water out of their clothes and hair. As Laverna shook the rain off of her, she and Natsuki shared a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, at least they’re getting along well,” Laverna said. Sunflower and the blacksmith began to converse about casual topics, and it was clear that the cheery girl had already forgotten the reason they had come. 

“Whatever. I’m gonna take a look around,” Natsu said, before shaking her hair like a wet dog, flicking beads of water at the half-elf.

“Right. Sounds good,” Laverna said, wiping the water from her face. Whilst Sunflower shared stories and jokes with the blacksmith, who hooted and hollered with nearly every other sentence, Laverna and Natsu went about choosing new equipment from the displays. 

It was pretty standard stuff. The less impressive work was folded up on some shelves, whilst the more sturdy armor stood on display mannequins. Natsu had her eye on a set of plate armor that stood guard in the center of the floor. 

“I’d be unstoppable in this.”

“You’d also be unmovable. You really think that’d work out for you?” Natsu took a brief measurement comparison of her own body to the armor meant for a human, then narrowed her eyes at the plate armor, almost as if it had tricked her with its allure. “Not to mention the price...geez. 1,800 gold pieces? It would take all three of us months to pay this off!”

“Right. Well, how much you got?” 

“Let me check.” Laverna rifled around for her purse, and then took a moment to count. “About 155. You?” 

“Less than that, I’ll tell ya that.” 

“So that’s definitely gonna be a no on the armor. What can we buy with this much?” 

“I already told you, I don’t need armor.” Something suddenly caught Natsu’s eye. “However, weapons are a totally different story.” The dwarf ambled over to a rack on the wall with an enormous two-handed sword on it. The blade was nearly as tall as she was, and it was nearly four inches thick. It was glorious, and Natsu didn’t even notice that she was reaching out for it. 

“Oi! Gonny no dae that!” The blacksmith rose from her stool suddenly and crossed the shop with a few quick strides. “Don be touchin’ me good stuff!” 

“Why? It’s a shop. People buy things here,” Natsu spoke slowly, as if she were having to explain the concept to a toddler. 

“Ah ken! Bit if ye drop that yer gonna break the floor!” Natsu was suddenly intrigued by her strange, archaic language. 

“What now?”

“Tis git weights alang th' blade. Cannae ye see? This naughty wee jimmy is made tae break bones.” Natsu used her context clues and imagination to understand that she was pointing out the fact that along the blade’s center there were iron weights affixed to it, making the blade much heavier. Along with this realization, she noticed that the sword was actually quite dull. The end was more blunt than anything. It was more of a hammer disguising itself as a sword, and Natsu was in love. 

“I’ve gotta have it!”

“Ye? haw! Come back whin ye'r three feet taller 'n' aboot twa times as pure tough.” The woman nearly doubled over laughing. Unfortunately, she’d need to triple over to reach Natsu’s height. Nonetheless, the dwarf dug her heels in. 

“What’s your price?”

“Ye'r joking, richt? ye dinnae hae a diamond in that poke, dae ye?” She pointed to the satchel that hung at Natsu’s hip. 

“Well, no, but I do have...uh.” Natsu began rooting through her satchel desperately. When the most impressive thing she could find was a deer antler, Natsu sighed and let her bag rest. 

“Tell ye whit. Fur laughs, how come dinnae ye huv a go 'n' hurl that sword?” The blacksmith put a hand on the hilt of the enormous blade. 

“Catrina, you probably shouldn’t--” Sunflower attempted to say, but Natsu was already getting handsy with the sword. 

“Ye git it?” Catrina said, still holding the end of the sword with one hand as Natsu took the hilt in her own. Her biceps were straining a bit, but a smirk crossed her lips. The challenge was tough, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. 

“Yeah...I got it.” She puffed. “No problem.” 

“Great.” And the blacksmith released her end of the sword. In mere moments, the weight of the blade nearly pulled Natsu to the ground as it nosedived forward. It made contact with a pile of rags, and made a dull thud as it hit the stone underneath. Natsu huffed and strained as she, with both hands and all of her weight, tried and failed to lift the sword a mere few inches off the ground. 

“Haw! Heavy isnae it?” Natsu did not answer. She continued her fight with the sword for another minute or so in strained silence. 

“Natsu, stop! Before you pop a blood vessel!” Laverna put a hand on her friend’s shaking shoulder. Natsu’s face matched the shade of Catrina’s hair. When she gave up her fight, she all but collapsed. Laverna offered some support, but Natsu pushed her away after leaning into her embrace for a few moments. 

“I-I’m fine! I’m fine! But...thanks, anyway.” Natsu coughed and cut her eyes to the side. Laverna provided the best supportive smile she could, but there was no lessening the girl’s embarrassment. 

To add insult to injury, with one hand, Catrina took hold of the hilt with one hand and lifted the blade back onto the rack. If Natsu wasn’t so furious, she would have been starstruck by her strength. 

“Mibbie listen neist time, wee lassie.” Natsu wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but a goblin could have understood she was being mocked. The dwarf snuck away to the corner to find something more reasonable to buy, hiding her face the entire time. 

The rest of the shopping experience remained thankfully uneventful. Laverna attempted to get Natsu’s opinion on a new set of medium armor, but the girl was still too ashamed to speak up too loudly. 

“Like a dog with her tail between her legs,” Laverna commented to herself as she ran her hands over a chainmail shirt. It was right about in her price range, and not as noisy as the scale mail. With a nod, she tucked it under her arm for purchase. She tossed a look at Natsu as she moved onto weapons. The girl was still tight of lip as Laverna slid over to her. 

“Do you see anything of use?”

“Yeah, I mean, I guess.” Laverna craned her head to get a look at the girl. “What?” 

“Why don’t we get you something new? Maybe...ooh, how about this?” Laverna, with some effort, lifted a pike for Natsu to examine. 

“Ehh...it’s neat, but no.” Natsu turned away from her. Laverna set her eyes upon the racks once more before exclaiming and retrieving another weapon. The half-elf’s strained grunts drew her attention once more. “Is that a greataxe? Looks kinda wicked...but no.” Natsu fought the curling of her lips as she watched Laverna struggle with the weight of the axe. She chuckled, then made her way over just before Laverna let the heavy weapon slip. She helped her guide the weapon back into the rack. Their hands touched, and neither pulled away for a few seconds. Their eyes met. Natsu laughed it off, but Laverna couldn’t find the words to reply. “How about we look for something for you instead?” 

As Laverna watched Natsu slowly warm back up, she felt a strange, warm sensation flow through her. It was a new feeling. It reminded her of the feeling she’d had when they returned the cat to Ms. Withersbee, but different somehow. Her head felt kind of cloudy, and her cheeks felt warm. She wasn’t sure what this feeling was, but she liked it. 

“Oh, hey, look at this!” Natsu held a scimitar high in the air. “How cool is this?” Natsu’s wide smile as she waved the strange, curved weapon around brought that feeling to a boil inside Laverna. She clutched a hand to her chest and smiled right back at her. 

&&&&

Yuri found herself staring at Natsuki. The girl took no notice as she read over the table before her, seeing if she could find anything of interest. When she finally noticed her, Yuri immediately averted her eyes, but Natsuki gave her another smile nonetheless. 

“I hate--I’m sorry to be rude, but I have to excuse myself. I need to use the bathroom.” Yuri stood suddenly, nearly knocking her binder off the table before clumsily fumbling it back into place before scurrying away. 

“Down the hall to the left!” Monika called after her. She turned back to the table. “She’s doing really well! I don’t think I’ve ever heard Yuri talk as much as I have today.”

“Yeah, she’s doing super!” Sayori chimed in, currently struggling to open a small bag of chips. “This has been fun, Monika! I’m glad we could all get together today.” 

“Yeah, me too. We’ve been playing for a good while now.” Monika tossed a glance at the window. The sun was still high in the sky, but it was mere inches from beginning its gradual downward descent. Unfortunately, as fall came closer, the days grew shorter. Simultaneously, Natsuki’s phone buzzed loudly against the wooden table, drawing the attention of all the girls.

A pit formed in her stomach at the thought of it. Only one person would be texting her right now, and she dreaded it. It could be nothing, or it could be an angry rant for whatever small thing she had done wrong. Natsuki felt a wave of rage form inside of her. How dare he ruin this for her? She had been savoring every moment up until now. This had been a magical day. She’d felt so at peace, so comfortable for once. She’d had more laughs and smiles today than she had in a long time, and like always, her father felt the need to step in and smash her joy. 

Natsuki refused to read it. At best it was nothing, at worst it was a demand for her to return home. She felt it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, and set her phone to silent. 

“What’s up?” Monika inquired. 

“Nothing. Not important, just some stuff,” Natsuki replied. She did her best to play it off, and Monika seemed to fall for it as the conversation continued, but Sayori kept an eye on her for a strangely long time. Big, kind blue eyes met small, sharp pink eyes, and there was an exchange of information neither quite understood at the time, but would become glaringly clear one day in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, and if you couldn't understand a damn word from Catrina, don't feel bad. I actually wrote the dialogue in my best Scottish representation, and then I actually ran it through what was called a "Scottish Translator" and I let it do the spelling, pronunciation, and word changes for me. By the end of it, I could barely understand what she meant, and I wrote it!

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a bit of an exposition and dialogue heavy chapter, but from this point on, the perspective is going to be shifting between in and out of the game. I will be narrating the D&D characters adventures in some chapters, and the Doki girls in others. It's a bit of an experiment, so feel free to leave criticisms. I've never actually really written much fanfiction, so this is a lot of new things for me. I hope you like, and like I said feel free to leave any comments or criticisms.


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